


The Progeny Actualization

by beeprimo



Category: The Big Bang Theory (TV)
Genre: F/M, Family, Humor, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:00:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 39,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26186062
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/beeprimo/pseuds/beeprimo
Summary: A collection of short stories exploring Sheldon and Amy’s quest to raise children, and how it affects their relationship. Canon up until Sheldon and Amy published their super asymmetry in s12 but every significant event that happened afterward will be incorporated in the story. A little bit of everything.First posted on FF.Net
Relationships: Sheldon Cooper/Amy Farrah Fowler
Comments: 2
Kudos: 40





	1. Chapter 1

**This may explore the family life of Sheldon and Amy, I wanted to envision what has become of their relationship, as husband and wife and best friends, once they decided to be parents. The kids that will be introduced here may be familiar (that's because I've written about them in some of my short stories) and they may appear more often than not, but I wanted to focus on the Sheldon and Amy's dynamic now that they have accepted their new role as parents.**

* * *

**The Progeny Actualization**

**Commencing**

* * *

_**December 17, 2018** _

"Amy, it's your birthday," Sheldon murmured with his eyes blinking languidly underneath his fluttering lashes.

Amy glanced sideways and saw her husband curled up to his side. Sheldon's arm wrapped around her stomach, embracing her loosely. "It is." She rolled to face him and held his cheek. "Can you believe that we've been doing this ritual for 4 years?"

He snorted. "I can. But don't call it ritual; it sounds like we're doing some sort of human sacrifice."

Amy chuckled. "Okay. Our birthday tradition."

Sheldon shut his eyes and let the words ring in his ears. _I wished to celebrate more years with you, Amy._ "Sounds about right." He drew his head nearer to Amy, his forehead almost touching hers. "I have a proposition," Sheldon whispered, preparing himself for whatever reaction his wife will produce.

Amy pressed further, curiously watching his face. "I'm listening."

"Starting tomorrow, you should stop taking your birth control pill and we will make a baby," he said nonchalantly. "Just in time for Christmas. We still have 8 days to reproduce." By this time, a smile crept up to his face, wishing that it would persuade Amy into giving in.

Amy sighed loudly, shutting her eyes for a second. "Sheldon, this is a serious matter," she reiterated, cupping his cheeks as she stared at him amid the lack of light.

"I know but I took everything into consideration, and I think I'm ready to take care of our children," he said proudly.

Amy let out an exhausted laugh. It was reassuring to hear that from Sheldon. The very thing she wanted to come out from his mouth. "Sheldon, I'm pleased to know that you feel that way but my opinion is as important as yours. We have to approach this matter delicately so as to not inflict pain toward each other."

"I know. That's why I'm telling you now so that when tomorrow comes, you will be able to halt any contraceptives." He held her hand, but Amy gingerly slipped away in an attempt to keep rational.

"Raising a child is not as simple as conceiving one, Sheldon. There are a lot of factors at stake when we talk about having a baby. Are our jobs stable enough to support a child? Do we have enough overall finances to keep the family afloat? Are we even genetically compatible? We need to consider our overall health before we even start planning on this." Amy's tone rose as she stumbled with her words.

"I agree." Sheldon rolled to his back, gazing straight at the ceiling. The words were heard, but unsure if they were understood. Amy is clearly disturbed by his proposal. Out of all the days to tell, he picked the day that mattered most.

Amy sighed and saw through her own frustration and Sheldon's sudden feeling of defeat. "Don't get frustrated that I won't immediately agree to your terms. I needed to check in on myself too before I decided to get pregnant."

"Okay. I apologize. That was stupid of me," he replied, glancing back.

"You are not. That was a valid, albeit ill-timed, request. Sheldon, we need to be vocal about our decisions, especially when the other is involved. Like when buying this bed, we both agreed to the same mattress and bed frame. When you're buying your comic books, I rarely tell you what to get because I barely know anything about comic books. That decision needs to be made by you without me agreeing to it. I don't care if you get an Archie or your anime type of thing."

"The anime comic book that you're referring to is called manga."

Amy pushed herself to sit down, draping the sheet against her body. "Comic books aside, we've only been married for 7 months, and we just published our super asymmetry theory a few days ago. With the uncertainty surrounding the physics world, it'll be months, if not years, before someone proves our theory. Worst case, and I'm saying this for the sake of considering all possibilities, our theory might not be proven after all."

"I understand that. I just," he abruptly paused, sighing, "we're not getting younger anymore, Amy. And if ever super asymmetry doesn't get proven, maybe starting a family might keep us preoccupied from our profession setbacks."

"So having a family fills the void left by our professional setbacks?" Amy asked.

"No, no. I didn't mean it like that," Sheldon sighed at his poor wording. "I mean it when I said that I'm prepared to be a father. I really do." He clasped Amy's hand once more, delighted that she didn't pull it back this time.

Amy lifted her hand and cupped Sheldon's cheek. "I don't doubt you, Sheldon."

Sheldon sighed in relief. "Back to our discussion. How about the 15-man plan for our family? We need to get going so that we can squeeze in the children before biology renders us infertile."

Amy let out a hearty laugh, thumping the mattress as she tilted her head back. Sheldon stared at her in shock, the sudden change of emotions startled him, although it might have taken the edge off from their serious topic.

He raised his eyebrows, grinning at Amy's laughter. "What's so funny?"

Amy covered her mouth and calmed down. "Oh, Sheldon, we're not gonna have 15 children," she said warmly. There's not a universe that she would have 15 children. Biologically speaking, that would be naturally impossible for her. And the physical and emotional toll 15 kids would do to her would be large-scale beyond relief.

"I don't expect you to carry them all or be even our own blood. We can do 3 sets of quintuplets of 5 sets of triplets."

"15 is not very ideal," she hissed, apologetic about shooting Sheldon's hopes down yet nervous about his persistent trait.

"12?" Amy shook her head vigorously, eliciting a sigh from Sheldon. "I like it to be divisible by 3. How about 9?"

It took seconds before Amy could come up with a better compromise. A compromise that will not endanger her, health and career-wise, and that will satisfy Sheldon's wishes. "3 is my limit," she answered resolutely, nodding once to convey her opinion.

"3?" He heard it right, yet it seemed unbelievable. Sheldon shook his head. "Boy, that's not a lot."

"Because we don't have to have that many children. Honestly, I'm fine with 1 child. But 3 is my limit."

"Fine." Sheldon ceded. Although he seemed very powerful when it came to his close friends and his mother, Amy got a slight edge on him when it came to their relationship. "However, we have to decide faster so that we can do it as early as we can."

"Well . . ." Amy laid back down to the bed.

"And if we decide to conceive, our coitus schedule will be put in to hold," he informed her slyly.

She turned her head and smirked deviously. "If you say it like that, Doctor."

"Calm down woman. I said if we agreed to procreate. We just had sex 10 minutes ago! Let me relax my calves first, they're still spasming." Amy let out a laugh as Sheldon genuinely turned down her offer.

"If you say so," she shrugged, turning to him in a sultry way. "But based on our experiments concerning intercourse, you should know how adept I am on riding you, right?"

* * *

_**December 26, 2018** _

Sheldon entered the kitchen where he would set up his experiments as a child. The smell of coffee wafted through the room, as Mary sat on one of the dining chairs, the Bible in hand. "Mom?" he asked, still disoriented from sleep.

"Yes, Shelly?" Mary said, still occupied with whatever ancient adage God told her to read today.

He pulled the chair, its legs scratching upon the hardwood floor. "I've been meaning to tell you . . ."

Without a halt, Mary jerked her head, her glasses almost falling from its perch. "Amy's pregnant?! Oh my Lord, this is godsent! So how's the pregnancy? Did you conceive on your wedding night? Oh, what a wonderful Christmas gift!" She raised her arms, as though she was praising someone for a foreseen event.

"No, Mom, you're mistaken. Have you seen Amy? If she got pregnant on our wedding night, biology dictates that she be at least 7 months pregnant as we speak, give or take 1 to 2 weeks." He was quick to dispel any assumptions, however, it will cause disappointment among his family.

To be fair, their situation mimicked what happened to him when he first raised the question to Amy. Although Amy seemed very keen on the process of intercourse, sans the reproduction, she was adamant on the topic of having a child without proper considerations.

"You don't have to lecture me, do you?" Mary chided him. "Not to be rude or anything—"

Sheldon cut her off. "Mom, when you say that, what you say is always inappropriate."

She narrowed her eyes and snatched her glasses from her face. From her expression alone, Sheldon felt like he would be infertile for the rest of his life. "My, my, I didn't raise you to talk back with that tone."

"Sorry, Ma'am." Sheldon held his head down.

"So she's not pregnant." Her words dragged in her lips, vexed at the letdown. "So what the heck are you goin' to tell me? Are you pregnant?"

"Mom, men don't get pregnant." Mary kept her stare sharp. However humiliating it was to confess, out of all people, his mother would provide the most insightful advice. "Well, I told her that I think I am ready to sire an offspring."

"Sire an offspring?" Mary raised her eyebrows at the strange phrase. "Why don't you try again?"

Sheldon felt the queasiness brought upon his mother's tenacity. "To bring forth a progeny?"

"Again." She drew her mug to her lips, keeping her gaze amid the steam.

"To be a father," Sheldon cried softly. It might be a poor decision to disclose the things that keep him up at night, but not telling it would burden him more. He sighed defeated when he didn't hear any response.

"Oh, wow!" Mary gasped after seconds, clasping her hands together, a genuine smile plastered on her face. "Well, it takes a lot of responsibility to be a parent. You should know that?"

"I'm aware of that."

"And it shouldn't only be you deciding this matter. Amy's gonna carry the baby; she needs the final say," Mary schooled Sheldon, sipping from her cup and looking at him smugly

Sheldon creased his forehead and held his chin. "Didn't you and Dad have Georgie when you were still 7 months into your relationship? I remember you gave birth to Georgie 6 months after you got married."

Mary squared her jaw and puffed her chest. "Amy," she yelled, "get your husband here!"

* * *

_**January 13, 2019** _

Amy stopped rinsing the dishes and turned to her father. She was hesitant but it will never say itself if she didn't. "Dad, Sheldon and I are trying," Amy nonchalantly said.

The man widened his eyes and pounded his fist on the countertop. "That bastard . . ." he whispered under his breath. Although he meant it to be funny, Amy seemed to misunderstand it.

Amy furrowed her forehead at the disappointment. "Dad!"

"What? That was a joke. It was like acting," he explained.

"Even though it wasn't, our decision is final. I was just informing you, not asking for your opinion." Amy turned her back against her father and responded to his antics.

"Can't Dad be a little silly sometimes?" Larry chuckled apologetically.

"He can." A smile creeping on Amy's face. She knew that of her parents, her father is the one who'll take everything lightly. He might be in favor of it the first time, but still, her father is the most understanding man she knew other than her husband.

She turned to him, seeking for something. "How does it feel to be a parent?"

A grin formed on his face. "You tell me."

Amy cocked her head and stomped her foot lightly. "Dad . . ." she chided softly, knowing fully how the man loves to play jokes on her.

Her father expressed his seriousness. "Well, how does it feel to be married?"

"Great, I suppose." She wasn't expecting that question, but her father didn't seem satisfied with her answer. A soft groan, she confessed, "Fine, I couldn't have done anything the other way around. Being with Sheldon, someone whom I'm comfortable with and I can trust, is better than anyone else."

Her father shrugged, sipping from his mug. "Well, that will fade when you have a child."

Speechless, she stared at her father with her jaw slacked. _What?_

"I'm not saying you won't love your husband anymore. We've come from different times, Darling. The mistakes your mom and I made can be avoided. What I'm saying is, don't listen to what I say."

"That's very helpful, Dad," Amy sighed. Her father is always an enigma. Not as mind-boggling as her husband is, but the man is as puzzling as the day she realized her father's quirks.

"No, no, listen to what you believe in. You and Sheldon seemed to hit it off right away. There's no doubt that he will understand."

"I heard you're talking about me." Her mother came through the hallway, stern as ever.

"Oh, no, Amy's talking about something else." Her father quickly retreated.

"What is it?"

Larry looked at her daughter in anticipation.

Amy gulped at the tension. "Sheldon and I are trying to conceive. B-But don't worry, we're not that very eager yet. We're just waiting for it to happen."

Her mother raised her eyebrows. "Is that the reason for your unscheduled visit?"

Amy winced quietly. "Sort of . . ."

Seconds passed and a timid smile formed on her mother's face. "Well, that's something to look forward to! Where's Sheldon? Mary told me he makes a mean chicken pot pie. Let's put him to work and celebrate!" Amy's mother demanded even though they just finished lunch.

Amy matched her smile. "Your wording is kinda off. But he does and I'm sure he wouldn't mind."

* * *

_**February 5, 2019** _

Sheldon approached his wife with utter hesitation. With hands trembling, he outstretched his hand and offered. "Flowers . . ."

Amy turned around from where she sat at the dining table, a timid smile on her lips. "Why? What's the occasion? Valentine's Day is a week away."

"I thought I should give you some flowers."

Amy accepted the small bouquet of pink and white carnations—closely resembled the very first bouquet she ever received from Sheldon.

"You didn't have to."

"I know I didn't but I want to." He sat across from Amy. "I can sense that you are frustrated for the past few days. I just wanted to let you know that I'm still here. If you need anything, you can always talk to me."

"Thank you." The guilt had been eating up Amy for days, and Sheldon managed to break her from her self-deprecating thoughts.

Ever since the end of January, Amy had been very distant. There was only one explanation to it: their first month of conceiving was for naught. She couldn't help but blame herself even though Sheldon had been convincing her that it was not her fault. It was nobody's fault.

Her routine of eating healthy and exercising was useless. It was her own decision to take advantage of the employees' free access to the university gym, persuading Sheldon to exercise with her (his workout mainly consists of walking on the treadmill and being Amy's cheerleader). Also, she became conscious of her diet. Of course, it was not perfect, there have been days where she indulged in mediocre food, but being mindful about what she ate was what she strived for.

She didn't expect that even with how she was treating her body well, her mental health was being compromised.

Sheldon thought it would be better if he did something just to lift her spirits up, show that their relationship was important above all else and no one can take it away from them.

"I'm sorry if I'm too preoccupied with work. I was beaten down with what happened," she sighed, "or rather, what didn't happen."

He held her hand and said, "I understand. I would like to reiterate that my affection toward you still hasn't changed."

Amy smiled genuinely as she patted his cheek. "It probably made it better."

* * *

_**February 26, 2019** _

"Happy birthday, Naughty Boy."

"ACK!" Sheldon coughed violently as Amy emerged from the bathroom donning that blue Starfleet uniform. _Wooh._ Amy matched it with knee-high boots that showed a sliver of her thighs with her hair loosely braided on each side.

"Easy there, Doctor. I should be the one choking on here," she muttered explicitly, running her palms on his strong back. Sheldon, still occupied with whatever obstruction there is in his trachea, couldn't wrap around his head with what was about to happen.

"What seems to be the problem?" Amy squeezed herself between him and the foot of the bed. Perched at the mattress, her eyes were leveled at this crotch, clearly liking the view.

Sheldon felt the implication of Amy's advances. Roleplay. They'd never done roleplay before. Well, technically, in the past, there was that Star Trek roleplay where Amy's merely checking his vital signs, and that time where she dressed up as Snow White and all she got was a peck on the lips. Another one was that Harry Potter roleplay, but they got too riled up from the Wizarding World that everything was discarded immediately. More like dressing up and dressing down—he wouldn't call it a roleplay.

Their record was spotless, and Amy seemed to have none of it. Roleplay needs to be part of their relationship.

It was his birthday night. A sweet breakfast of buttered toast and eggs, with crispy hashbrowns and bacon, not his typical Tuesday breakfast, but he couldn't complain because Amy made it. She prepared packed lunches, the best tuna melt he had and a serving of egg salad, with a sweet sticky note to cheer him up. And since both of them were quite occupied with their work, a takeout from Cheesecake Factory was their dinner. While eating, they watched Sheldon's choice of movie: Raiders of the Lost Ark, which cannot be tainted by Amy's blatant revelation years ago that almost endangered their relationship. Suffice to say, Amy let Sheldon be and enjoyed the movie.

"N-Nothing . . ." Sheldon stuttered at her question. What was his problem? Well to start off, he didn't expect this kind of provocation from his wife. "But I'm feeling quite hot . . ."

Amy tilted her head slowly, caressing his hips as she looked up to him. _Got you._ "Hmm . . . do you have any idea on what that might be causing it."

Sheldon drew his head down, defeated. "You would have to check me, _Ma'am_."

"Check you?" Amy reached for his hand. Sheldon stepped closer.

"Yes, vigorously." Amy took upon his words to unbutton his shirt.

"Hmmm . . . Okay. We'd have to administer a physical exam first," she ordered. "Why don't you sit over there? I'll take care of you."

Enthralled, Sheldon obeyed and sat against the headboard. His body trembling, even his voice was squeaky. Was it from nerves? Or excitement? Either way, Amy can see how much Sheldon was looking forward to everything. It was already 10 in the evening, and even though bedtime is coming up, she'd planned for something spectacular, straight out of dreamland.

"Tell me your symptoms," Amy demanded with impetus. That surely will stimulate him.

"S-Sweating . . ." Sheldon stuttered. Amy stretched her left leg over his body, sitting upon to his crotch. The idea of shoes on the bed dissipated, only to be replaced by the image of Amy being an effective tease.

She lightly ran her hand on his neck, Sheldon instinctively craning to give Amy access. Quickly, Amy inserted her hand inside his shirt, making him jolt. "Ooh, you worked up a bit of a sweat, don't you?" she said, feeling the cold sweat on his chest and back. "Tell me, have you been experiencing some throbbing in unusual places.

Sheldon nodded nervously. Throbbing in his groin isn't unusual, especially when stirred up by his wife, but words eluded him exponentially. With hands with a mind of their own, he drew and outlined Amy's cunning waist before being stopped.

"Ah, ah, ah, we do have some strict no touching protocol here, Doc." She pushed his hands away softly.

Sheldon's lips fell. "I can't touch you?"

"Maybe later." Amy pecked him on the lips, a bit affected by the sadness in his voice. "For the time being, we're still assessing you. Any other symptoms?"

"Oh, your heartbeat's a little faster than usual!" She feigned a surprised expression while caressing his left chest.

"My, my, what has happened to you?" she said in disappointment. "We should administer tests, right? Get to the bottom of this all."

All Sheldon could do was nod or shake his head. Nodding seemed to be what he did the duration of their play. Saying no would be like saying no to his marriage. And it's his birthday, anyway. Birthday boys, especially the good ones, get gifts all the time.

Amy slowly touched her lips to his, feeling the initial tenderness. Suddenly, without any middle ground, their kiss intensified, a swoon-worthy interaction between the two of them. But it was cut short when Amy pulled away so soon, the _twack_ of their lips separating disappointed Sheldon.

"Salivaomics," she whispered. At this point, Sheldon finally realized what Amy was doing. _Tests, she said._ Adopting a pretend reason to justify their roleplaying.

After what seemed to be a good minute of making out, Amy's mouth languidly traveled to his ears, taking her sweet time before settling underneath his jaw. "Checking for pulse." Another whisper. This time, the warm air blowing on his skin made him shiver.

As Amy continued her unhurried oscillation on his neck, her hand unconsciously traverse down, down to a place where no one but his wife pleasured before.

"We'd have to get a specimen from this." Amy gripped the organ between his thighs, making Sheldon yelp. And before he knew it, what was once warm on his neck quickly moved to his genitals. He craned his head back at the sudden burst of pleasure, puckering his lips tight at the sensation. Amy went on for minutes, Sheldon trying his best not to spoil their momentum by finishing prematurely. His eyes welled from holding back as his mouth opened wide, heaving out.

The pleasure was cut off abruptly, leaving Sheldon to groan in frustration. He opened his eyes to see Amy shuffling from her position. She pressed her body to his, murmured, _"Let's not waste any of this shall we?"_ and he was once again sheathed inside of her. At long last, his home.

* * *

_**April 1, 2019** _

"Dr. Fowler, I come bearing news! " Sheldon announced giddily as he walked into their apartment door.

Amy lit up at the voice of her husband. "Really?!" she replied, her eyes glistening at the excitement. "I have one too! You go ahead," she said hoping her husband's news is good if not better than hers.

Sheldon puckered his lips and sat in front of her. "A team of physicists from Chicago confirmed our theory!" he gasped, covering his mouth for a second before enunciating the big reveal, "We might be in the running for a Nobel, Amy!" Suddenly, his shoulders dropped. "For next year that is, it sucks that the nomination window has ended."

"Really?" she asked in disbelief, not paying much attention to being nominated next year. This was way better than she expected. A Nobel, with both their name in it, just like the famed Curie couple! Oh, how she loved their story ever since! Tears started to well in her eyes. She leaned on the stool, while still keeping his gaze.

"What's your news? Why are you crying?" Sheldon quickly approached her on the island and guided her to their sofa. It was odd that his wife was so emotional about the prospect of a Nobel. Even he was elated, sure, but not to the point of sentiment. Maybe he will cry once they win, but not at that moment. He knows they are going to win but everything is still uncertain until they get a nomination.

"That's wonderful! Oh, I can't believe it!" she wailed, wiping the snot coming out of her nose. Remembering her news, she fished something out of her tote bag and handed it to Sheldon. "Here."

"Tulips?" He observed it very carefully. Three mysterious white gizmos were tied to all the stems of the almost-blooming, red tulip bulbs. He looked at it closely and could not believe his eyes. One does not need the aid of instructions printed on its box, just merely looking at it and reacquainting himself with the device made his heart flutter "Amy, are we . . ."

"We might win a Nobel!" she whimpered, pounding his chest once and laying her forehead on his shoulders.

He was taken aback by her reaction. "Forget the Nobel! You're pregnant?!" Sheldon's wandering mind came upon something that has been a struggle for him. "Oh shoot! Today's April 1st! How am I supposed to know that what you're telling me is not a prank?!" Rattled, he came up with the different pranks he has experienced throughout the years, most notably was that Bill Gates shenanigan. Amy is the last person to pull a prank on him. It's no doubt that what she's saying was true.

Wide-eyed, Amy shrieked, "How am I supposed to know that you're not pranking me, either?!"

"I don't know, too!" Sheldon jerked up, paced once, before running to get his bag. "Here, a letter signed by Siebert . . . I don't know if you'll believe me but I think that's real!"

"Oh God, I don't have proof!" Amy worried, rubbing her hand on her forehead. She jumped as soon as she thought of something. "We're going to my OB-GYNE tomorrow! They'll prove it there."

All Sheldon could do was smile. "I know you are telling the truth, Amy!" He approached her. "But a doctor's appointment will clear things up." A wicked grin formed on his face. "Let's tell our friends that you're pregnant, and claim it's a prank, and _boom!,_ months later, their faces will be filled with confusion as we hold our baby!"

"I don't think that's how pregnancy works—they will notice the physical manifestations. But I like your idea!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Progeny 1.1: May 2019 – December 2019**

* * *

_**May 11, 2019 – 4:00 p.m.** _

"Kindly put some on my back." Amy turned around, exposing her skin that barely caught any light.

"As you wish," Sheldon replied, squirting the content of the bottle on his hands. He's more than happy to help, under his supervision his wife will not be in duress. And by duress, the afternoon UV light as they faced the Pacific. "I have no clue as to how you coaxed me into this trip," he revealed, rubbing the sunscreen on her back. Have they ever set foot on the beach? Maybe honeymooning in Legoland, where they were just a mile away from the ocean, was considered going to the beach. Does visiting the aquarium count? He hoped it does because he and Amy practically visited every aquarium in Southern California.

"Well, first off, I'm carrying our child," Amy informed Sheldon casually. "So I think I'm obliged to ask for a vacation." Upon seeing Sheldon's mopey expression, she cupped his cheek. "And cheer up, Love, it's our first wedding anniversary. I think it's safe to say that it's nice to spend it on the beach."

Sheldon sighed as though he was exhausted, but all he could think about was the reaffirmed exuberance that came with their anniversary and being pregnant at the same time. "You're well aware that I couldn't, for the life of me, object your wishes. Not that they're objectionable, but your suggestions were quite logical, considering that you are with child and in a few months, a vacation like this, or any vacation, will be beyond our reach."

Delighted to hear Sheldon's involvement, Amy broke into a smile. "I know right. Come on let's swim!"

_**May 11, 2019 – 9:00 p.m.** _

"Amy, is it really safe to engage in something like this?" Sheldon whispered reluctantly as he poised himself above his wife.

She looked at Sheldon lovingly. "Yes, we already asked Dr. Powell."

Ever since they found out about their pregnancy, Sheldon had been very cautious with her. A good reason might be her disinterest in intimacy. The mere thought of her husband making love to her makes her want to puke—literally.

"It's just that . . . I'm afraid to trample the baby," he admitted, "And it's been so long since last we—"

It truly has been a long time. As this was their first pregnancy, the things Amy was experiencing during her first trimester daunted him. He read books upon books that might clue him into what Amy was experiencing. Even following up with her doctor, without Amy, became his salvation. But nothing seemed to appease Sheldon. It was Amy's body, and whatever doctors or books tell him the do's and don't of pregnancy, doubt overtook him. Only Amy could tell what Amy feels. And the only thing he can do is wait, wait for Amy to tell him.

"I feel fine now, Sheldon," she assured.

The week leading up to their anniversary weekend, signs of Amy being receptive had been sprinkled throughout the days. The long but slow makeout sessions. The invitation to share not just a quick, cold shower, but a warm, everlasting bath. The cuddling sessions as they lay down to sleep. But none of those led to something fervent as what they're about to do.

"And my bump is not that big yet," Amy assuaged her worried husband. _Maybe a kiss will help_. She stared him in the eye and, in conviction said, "You won't trample the baby, Sheldon."

_**May 12, 2019 – 5:00 a.m.** _

"Here . . ." Amy walked from the closet, clutching something in her hand.

"Is this your anniversary gift for me?" Sheldon was handed a simple white square box, as thick and as big as a book, a blue ribbon neatly tied on the center.

"What else would it be?" She grinned and sat back to the bed, still cautious with her small bump.

"I empathize with you, Amy. I now feel the slight irritation from sarcastic remarks."

"Aww, my sarcastic quips are nothing compared to yours." She smiled before putting on a serious look and raising a finger. "But be cautious around Pregnant Amy, she might not like it that much."

Sheldon sat up on the bed, pulled the ribbon, and removed the cover. A square leather-bound book greeted him. The cover of it had a gold _'ONE'_ embossed right at the center. He looked up to Amy, her face in anticipation, pointing for him to open it already.

Like any sane man, he opened the very first page. It wrote _Sheldon & Amy_, looped in a font similar to their wedding invitation. He moved on to the next page, a handwritten note, of which he knew the handwriting very well:

_'Dear husband,_

_Happy 1st Anniversary. I love you._

_Love, your wife, Amy'_

He felt Amy's hand on his bare shoulder. Sheldon gazed up to see her, smiling sweetly. He'd call it a miracle to be celebrating an anniversary with his wife, someone who stuck by him despite his differences. With eyes glistening, he turned on to the next page, which revealed a photo from their wedding. The look of admiration both on their part as they stood close together and in front of the altar. It was followed by a few candid wedding pictures, none of them he'd seen before. Maybe these were caught by his friends and not the official photographer.

The pages that followed were snapped on their honeymoon. It surprised him to see more of his face and less of Amy, but he assumed Amy did all of the capturing. Their Legoland adventures, New York escapades, even silly photos of him that sparked a shocking, yet laughable, exclamation. _How dare she include photos of me sleeping with my mouth open?!_ he thought goofily, thinking that his wife has got to pay.

Stopping at a certain page, a picture captured his attention. A dark silhouette of an arched entity against the light of the backdrop. It took him a few seconds to analyze what he saw. He remembered the very same view out of their hotel window in New York on their third day there. They got in a spat because Amy unraveled his secret schedule. He needed to woo back Amy with hotdogs and was riled up by her knowledge about true random numbers. Things got heated up pretty quickly from then on. He didn't know Amy took a picture of what happened, let alone . . .

"It's a snapshot from a video." She pointed out, appearing too proud about what she did.

"Amy!" Sheldon looked at his wife, jaw slacked. He didn't know his wife took intimate photos of them, let alone videos!

"Shh, it's a fairly short, password-protected video on my laptop. And I can always delete that if I want to."

In all seriousness, Sheldon said of the album, "Let's not show this to anyone, not even our child."

The next photos also brought fond memories. A photo of him writing all those thank you notes to everyone who brought gifts. It was before his carpal tunnel flared up so a smile was evident on his face. That silly sunglasses he wore on their mock scavenger hunt at the café; he didn't know Amy took a photo of that. And probably the most astonishing were the pictures of him occupied in his whiteboard. There even was a close-up photo of his pensive face and another, a selfie with Amy. Whenever she took that, he must have been very deep into his thoughts because his memory eluded him.

However, Amy's confession about taking photos of everyone, especially him, as her subject piqued his interest.

"Amy, how did I not notice all the cameras you set up as we are canoodling?"

"Hey, it's only one camera, the one Dad has gifted us for the wedding. The others I snapped by phone." Amy truly relished her father's gift. Having lived together for two years before they got married, Sheldon and Amy didn't need the traditional homeware wedding gifts people are raving about. Instead, they asked for anything their guests thought would be appropriate to give, and Amy's father knew his daughter very well by giving them a camera.

Nodding at Amy's explanation, Sheldon returned back to perusing. He smiled after seeing a selfie with their published super asymmetry paper. Scowling at the photo of him face down on the sofa, with his legs folded in the air; he remembered it being the day their theory was disproved. Smiling again at the candid photo of them on Amy's birthday, cuddling on their bed, and at the photo of the whole family in Texas the first time he brought Amy as his wife.

"Why is there only one photo from January?" He turned to Amy as he saw the dates changed from January 3rd—the first day Amy took up yoga and dragged him with her to the university gym—to Valentine's Day, almost a month of void.

Amy looked at him beneath her glasses. "You know why."

"Oh . . ." He thought for a while. Realizing what happened that January, he bellowed, "Oh!" and kept his head down and continued on.

It seemed like Amy took hundreds, if not thousands, of photos. He noticed her sudden inclination to pull out her camera or phone and snap a photo or two, and linked it into this anniversary project of hers. After all, the first year's gift theme is paper and she couldn't have done herself a better job of making him all sentimental.

"Thank you," he whispered slowly, pecking Amy's cheek before turning his head away to calm himself. He took the opportunity to stand up and find his gift for her.

"Here's my present." He smiled contritely, aware that his gift was not as grand as his wife's. "My _journal_."

Amy jerked her head. "Your journal? The one with the physics scribbles?"

"No, that is my Amy Journal—AJ." He tapped the cover. "It's not as messy and as disorganized as my Sheldon Journal, but I hope you can understand my handwriting since I had to use your favorite fountain pen."

A little note glued on the first page read:

_'Amy,_

_"Hold my hand. That's what we're meant to do. Keep doing that and don't let go. That's our secret."_

_Happy Anniversary. You keep this marriage together._

_Sheldon'_

Sheldon watched Amy's reaction. She seemed oblivious by the Time Lord's quote that he included. He intended to include that because it's Doctor Who, and he thought Amy would recognize it since it was her favorite Doctor—for which Amy reminds her of Sheldon—who said that very sentence. But he knew she liked it because a grin formed on her lips as she touched his letter.

Amy skimmed through the pages, curious as to what was written. The first page became the summary for the contents of his gift, at least that was Amy expected.

It was a letter, dated on the day of their wedding.

She obviously remembered the happenings of that day. It was a hectic day, no one could have possibly seized 15 minutes just to write a letter, not even Sheldon. But he did anyway, he managed to sneak in a few minutes just to write that.

A tear rolled down her cheek as she read the first entry. It detailed Sheldon's gratefulness to her. Not just having to show up and agreeing on the wedding, but also sharing the remainder of their lives together. The context illuminated her on their impact on each other. The first part was written as though the wedding is in the distant future like it still had not taken place.

The morning of their wedding, they both agreed to spend some time on their own, maybe answer calls, check-in on last-minute arrangements, that's what she did and that's what she expected Sheldon to do. Instead, Sheldon used that time to write the very first entry.

The second part of the letter was a bit sloppy and short. This part appeared as though the wedding had already taken place. Amy surmised that this was written as she was snoring on their honeymoon suite and Sheldon making use of what little light he could turn on.

Unkempt or not, Amy realized the magnitude of this present. Sheldon's thoughts about her and their relationship were put into writing. She could just reread it all over and over again like it was her favorite novel. In fact, not a single novel could top Sheldon's gift.

"Are you alright? You can cry, but be careful because if you cry too much, it'll be hard to breathe," he said innocently. "Some entries are very short, some are just ramblings, but it has some saucy entries too."

That rendered a chuckle from her. Amy read every single entry. An entry from their wedding gift scavenger hunt made her laugh and snort. An entry from their super asymmetry failure, detailing Sheldon's woes and how she made everything a little bit better, made her sad, as well touched. The entry on her birthday, indeed, detailed some saucy bits. Sheldon had even elaborated their plan for procreation hours after she shut him down. Ever the persistent man, Amy's disagreement fueled his imagination as to how his next move would be. A lot of options—bawdy or tame—were listed. Fortunately, Sheldon picked the right one, or else there wouldn't be an anniversary to celebrate in the first place.

However, every lighthearted and compassionate entry was surmounted by something emotionally charging. While most entries just integrated her into the story, mostly being the protagonist, this one was addressed to her fully, as though Sheldon's the paper and he's talking to her.

It could have been the most disappointing and perplexing time of the year. Being too focused on conceiving, she forgot about the wonders of being with having someone constantly by her. Things went awry that even just after trying for one month and getting three consecutive negative pregnancy results, she was withdrawn from reality.

Sheldon was there all along, waiting with her for their results, even cheering her up as soon as the tests showed one line. But she didn't know there was something behind her husband being nonchalant about it. The letter was speaking to her. She heard him talk amidst her tears, telling her that he badly wanted for her to read his letter, and he tried his best to cheer her up without revealing a part of his gift.

Emotions escalated when Amy read the entry Sheldon wrote the day they discovered their pregnancy. It was pure gratitude, a bit of anxiety, and a great deal of love and affection.

This wasn't the Sheldon she met years ago, yet he remained the same. He has his schedules and routines. His mannerisms are persistent. His genius is seeping out just from his looks. What changed is his willingness to be vulnerable without being too much, his flexibility on things that don't need to be rigid and stiff, and his enormous devotion and respect and affection to her, someone he considers as his life partner.

Amy violently wiped away the snot and tears off her face. Enamored, Sheldon snapped out of his trance and grabbed whatever he could—in this case, a once was a swan towel origami that came as a pair when they entered their suite. He forcefully shook it once, losing the shape of the origami and casting away stray rose petals, and gingerly handed her the towel.

"Oh Lord, was my writing too vivid? I shouldn't have written it that way. Not everyone can handle clear descriptions of events, and I didn't take your promising, but not eidetic, memory into account. I thought my lucid storytelling would be very helpful in making you impressed. I shall offer you a mea culpa, Amy." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders,

"I hate your big words!" Amy sniffed. "But I love it. My God, I love you, Sheldon."

"I know," Sheldon whispered as Amy embraced him tightly. "And I love you, too. I promise I will look at your gift again to absorb the emotions you expect from me right now."

* * *

_**August 20, 2019** _

Penny clapped her hands so loud, Howard almost slipped from the leather couch. She successfully caught everyone's attention by just doing that. "Guys, we've decided to buy a house!" she shrieked, the group erupting in cheers.

"A house? What kind of house? Is it really a house? Where? Still in Pasadena? What neighborhood? What street? Is it a street or more like an avenue . . . or maybe a cul-de-sac! Is this near anyone's homes? Can Leonard still drive me to work?" Bothered, Sheldon just sat in his seat and spewed out words one wouldn't say when celebrating.

Amy leaned in and held her husband by the arm. "Sheldon, you don't need someone to drive you. We've always practiced, remember?"

"But it wouldn't be the same. It's fine if Amy drives us, but look at her." He pointed at her swelling belly to prove his point. "She's pregnant, and I can't let her drive!"

"Sheldon, Caltech is 5 minutes away. I've been driving for well over 20 years. I can handle 5 minutes with a swollen belly." Amy looked at their friends apologetically, wishing they weren't in this situation. Sometimes, she thought, Sheldon do things prematurely, without considering his action

"I know that Amy, but we need to be safe. You need to be safe. You're toward the end of your second trimester. Leonard's assistance will be helpful," he defended, voice raising.

Leonard stood up and scratched his head. "Sheldon, we're moving because we want you and Amy to have the apartment."

"And with me earning a buttload of money more than this piece of work, we've decided to move into our own home," Penny continued, "Technically, it's a townhouse in Oak Knoll, still, there's a house in the word . . ."

"But—"

"Sheldon, a one-bedroom apartment barely accommodates you and Amy, with all your books and science things, another person living with you needs more space than you'd ever imagined." Penny sighed at Sheldon's stubbornness.

"He or she may not have hardbound books and microscopes, but a baby needs a bassinet, a drawer, and storage for all the essentials—changing table, stroller, diaper bags," Howard weighed in with his first-hand knowledge of children.

Sheldon panned to his wife who seemed very serious. "Amy?"

"They're right, Sheldon." Amy held him down by the hand. "Our current apartment is so stuffed with our belongings. An extra room will be really helpful," she said thoughtfully. "And besides, we'll move in here. It's not like this place is very foreign to you. Think of it as the time when Leonard still hadn't found your 'For Rent' notice on the university bulletin board. But this time, it'll be you and me living here."

Sheldon kept his head down, grumbling in defeat, "And the baby, too."

* * *

_**November 4, 2019** _

Amy and Sheldon waited on the front porch amidst the California morning sun. When he noticed his pregnant wife sweating, Sheldon moved behind her and blocked the sunlight. It took another press of the doorbell before someone answered the door.

"Welcome, Fowler-Coopers! Come in you two," Penny greeted enthusiastically, ignoring the eye-roll Sheldon did for taking too long to open the door.

"Oh, Bestie, this place looks immaculate!" Amy roamed her eyes in awe at the charm of the place.

"I know, right? Leonard actually found this place." Penny looked in pride at their investment. "It's only 5 blocks from Caltech so I hope Leonard will keep his promise of walking to work."

The Hofstadter's housewarming party flowed into fruition. A house tour was initiated as soon as they were all completed. Leonard and Penny's townhouse seemed like an infrastructure in and of itself. Spanning two floors, it had two bedrooms and two bathrooms that Leonard seemed to be very keen about. They finally get to have a balcony, which Sheldon knew was Leonard and Penny's dream. Such a trivial thing to dream about but he also has trivial dreams so he'll let it pass.

To have seen the expression on his best friend's face made Sheldon very content. They finally have their own house which they can brag about. Contrary to his initial reaction, similar to being double-crossed by an ally, he couldn't be any prouder than having them move on.

Sheldon leaned further into the dining table when he felt Amy's hand rubbing his thigh.

"Sheldon," Amy whispered, as though she needed something.

"Yeah?" Sheldon answered, his attention glued to ruckus happening at the perfectly new and clean living room, caused by the Wolowitz kids. His divided attention got even more divided when Raj stumbled upon one of the pillows and made Halley laugh. The entertainment of physical comedy was just exquisite.

Amy suddenly held his hand as though she were in distress. Sheldon flinched on his seat and quickly turned all his attention to her. "Why? Do you want to go home now?" he said uneasily.

"It's not that . . ." Suddenly, Amy looked at him like she was going to be emotional, which made him fear for the future. "We're beginning a new chapter of our lives, Sheldon."

"You're right." He sighed, allayed by her confession. "I just want to tell you that I will be prioritizing my family above all else," Sheldon said in certainty.

"Really?" Her voice softened.

Sheldon looked at her incredulously. There is nothing he would do that would endanger his family. "Why are you surprised? Of course, I'll do that."

"I just thought that having a child is just—you know—an accomplishment of yours."

He straightened his back. "A child is always an accomplishment. Heck, it's a medallion worth every prize in the universe."

"I'm just concerned that you'll be . . . different. Don't get me wrong, but I'm just worried about how you will take in all of this," she rambled before continuing, "Wow. The amount of estrogen and progesterone swimming in my body right now is making me say all this stuff. I didn't mean it like that, Sheldon."

"If you're worried about our plausible Nobel Prize and me overworking myself, I will assure you that, based on the timeline, I will be a father first before becoming a Nobel Laureate. That being said, I will allot a day in a week to be the full-time parent to our child, while you achieve your goals. I will be a role model and display responsibility. I will be supportive and kind. I will keep an open mind and be patient. But I am a rookie, Amy. We'll have to learn together; I will be learning from you and vice versa. I know that appears very selfish of me to hog all parenting duties, but this is the least I could do. You dwelled by me for years and you've carried our child. The only thing there for me to fill in is to be a great and rational father." He looked with the best intentions and kissed the side of her head.

"I know you will," Amy answered faintly.

"I will put that into writing, don't you fret." He tightened his hold on her hand. "And if I act otherwise, you must sue me."

"I doubt that will happen." They shared a laugh even though the noise from the living room barely made the house notice their conversation. "You're going to be the best dad, Sheldon."

"I may be the best father, but you're going to be the best parent." He smiled timidly, caressing Amy's lower back. "Oh, I can't wait for it to happen!"

* * *

_**December 8, 2019** _

Amy waddled across the hall, taking one step at a time. "Sheldon, I swear to God, this child might not be a Cooper!"

"Excuse me?!" Sheldon turned his head around, full of resent and hurt. "Have you been inviting other men into your uterus?!"

Amy scoffed and reached for him to fetch her snack from the cupboard. "Don't be silly. _He_ might be a Fowler because he's taking too much time in utero."

Sheldon reached the container from above and opened it for her. At any given time, Amy could still reach their cupboard, but her situation made her shrink ever so slightly. "Give it time, Amy. It is rare for babies to come out on their due dates."

"My due date was five days ago," she said, munching on trail mix.

"Case in point," Sheldon surrendered, knowing fully that his pregnant wife has the upper hand.

"Why wouldn't our child come out now?" Amy plopped on one of the stools.

"The doctor might have miscalculated the due date. We weren't certain either as to when we conceived. Valentine's Day up until my birthday, things went a little hazy. We practically made love every single day."

Amy cocked her head in confusion. "No, wait, we didn't do it on the 15th, 19th, 21st, and 25th. But we sure did savor that 3-day weekend we had."

"Yes, indeed." Sheldon day-dreamed about those gloomy mornings they had. How they would just stay in bed late and engage in activities adults do. How those three days went by so quickly yet it seemed like every day spent with Amy, time slows down and he has the chance to appreciate that life he has built with her.

"So please, put on some gloves and grab the tongs. I'll push, you pull," Amy interrupted his reverie with the desperate attempt to give birth.

"You're kidding," he said rationally, watching Amy perched on his spot as her belly weighed her down.

"With all the hormones rushing through my body, I couldn't tell anymore."

He smiled sadly. "Come on, now, let's not do something impetuous."

She laid her head against the kitchen island. "Hush with your big-word mouth, Sheldon. I just want to give birth."

There's nothing he could do, really. He'd just have to wait with Amy and keep her company as her due date moves and moves further. But a silly anecdote from Howard made him think about it. "I heard that there is something about sex that, they say, induces labor. I know it sounds hooey, but a few people claim its credibility."

"I'm not in the mood for sex." Amy shut him down quickly, harsh and racking. "But I could use some bagels."

Sheldon sighed in relief, fully aware of the frankness that comes with pregnancy. "Not your favorite, though," he warned. "You're popping anytime soon, and they might find opium traces in your blood, we don't want that to happen."

Amy grimaced. "No lox, no poppy seeds, I can't eat anything!"

Sheldon shrugged as he cannot do anything. "We'll put Greek yogurt and top it off with strawberries." He knew that strawberries were his favorite fruit and not Amy's but anything that he can think of to appease his wife is more than welcome.

* * *

_**December 11, 2019 – 5:00 p.m.** _

"I brought tea," Sheldon quietly said against the backdrop of the busy hallway. He carried the cups as he approached the bed, carefully balancing everything in his hands.

"Honey," Amy muttered resolutely. Her tone alarmed Sheldon so he approached her immediately. "Do me a favor, will you?"

"Anything for you, Amy. What do you want?" he said softly, genuinely concerned about his wife.

"Please, please, please—" she gazed upon him with hooded eyes "—throw the tea on your face. And while you're at it, can I have a donut?"

"Wh—wait." He retreated away from her abruptly, frowning at the straightforward request. "I know why you're saying that. You're upset about the labor, and seeing that you just told me to throw the tea on my face, meant that a hot beverage will not assuage you."

Amy leaned her head on the bed, groaning as another contraction flowed through her abdomen and back. Sheldon's brief disappearance had made her ornery to whoever's distracting her. Patience had waned overtime after being in labor for 18 hours—13 hours of it spent at home, trying everything she could to relax, and the current 5 hours in active labor, walking along halls and bouncing on balls.

The surge of emotions rushed through her body. Despite her hardest to breathe and concentrate, her mind slips and the pain overcomes her.

Amy opened her weary eyes and sought Sheldon's arms. "Can I get a hug?" she murmured, all shyness stripped off of her.

Without hesitation, Sheldon put everything aside and spread his arms to embrace his struggling wife. She clung onto him like her and their child's life depended on it. Reluctance was the least Sheldon felt that moment. He let it last, listening to his wife's woes.

Amy always bragged about her pain tolerance. That woman wouldn't fuss about being burned while cooking. She wouldn't make it a big deal when she had a paper cut. Her pain threshold is something that she prided, and Sheldon seeing her barely talking because of the pain, baffled him. He doesn't have the same level of tolerance, and Amy barely surrendering while in labor, proved that she was the alpha of the two.

"Do you want me to massage your lower back?" he asked as Amy grumbled and hunched in pain. She shook her head and tightened her grip. He knew she said no but his hands traveled down to her lower back and slowly caressed it. Amy's breathing relaxed and her grip followed soon. "How about your perineum?" Amy glares were piercing, Sheldon chuckled lightly as she pounded his chest and pushed him away.

Amy returned back to his arms. Sheldon knew this peace would be temporary. As another wave of contraction waned, he thought of other plans. "Do you want to watch a movie or a show, perhaps? I've downloaded a few."

Amy's grip tightened as she talked into his shoulder. "I just want you to hug me."

_**December 11, 2019 – 11:00 p.m.** _

"Hi, we're so proud of you," Sheldon muttered amid the bustling of the birthing room. "You've done so well. _He's_ doing good, Amy."

The events of the night were bleary. From the exhaustion of pushing for over an hour, she asked Sheldon to remove her glasses as she was giving birth, only wearing it when their baby was laid on her bare skin and next to her.

Amy's eyes were closed as the events of what happened in between. She didn't know if she already passed the placenta. She didn't know if there was a tear and the doctors had to stitch her up. She wasn't aware of her son's condition. Did he cry immediately? Was he born breech? It seemed very impossible because her last ultrasound confirmed her baby's head was down.

The initial feeling was fear, as soon as she saw that pinkish human being beside her. Followed by excitement and exhaustion, she wasn't able to fully absorb that her son had been born, that he had been healthy, and that he had been cleaned and bundled into his peaceful bassinet.

Soon after, the people started clearing out from the room, taking with them the mess that childbirth made. Only the noise from the distant traffic and the customary medical machines billowed. Sheldon just watched as his wife was reclined on her bed and his son's bassinet just beside her. Everyone was asleep except for him.

Early morning came and Amy was roused by the shrill cry of their son. Sheldon came to her bed, pushing the nurse's button and carried his son from the bassinet. Although Amy already got to try breastfeeding numerous times last night, she still needed some guidance from someone other than her husband.

Sheldon observed, taking mental notes on the dynamic of mother-child while breastfeeding. Despite not having functional, life-supporting breasts (his were more of an accessory), he wanted to know how these things work. Not in a perverted way, but in an intimate and loving manner. He'd hope to have that relationship with his child soon enough through cuddle time or diaper changing.

The nurse headed out sooner than expected. Amy finally breastfed with ease, unlike a few hours ago where occasional pain frequented their session.

As silence overtook the room, Sheldon dragged a chair beside Amy's bed and sat in awe. Recalling what he did a few hours after Amy gave birth, he informed, "Amy, I already filled out his name."

"Good," she replied softly. "Please tell me it's Isaac."

"Yes, I followed your orders. You didn't tell me anything about his middle name, though. After having a rather expensive talk with Raj about that agreement we made years ago, thank God he let me off the hook about naming our children after him."

Amy let out a distinct sigh of relief. On how much did Sheldon spend, or if he did spend at all, she couldn't care less about it now. Fortunately, Raj is a good sport about it and wished all the best for the new addition to their group.

"So I named him myself."

An incredulous look was plastered on Amy's face. There could only be two outcomes: it's either Sheldon picked a great name, or he picked something that would immensely irritate her. "What is it?" she asked cautiously with a hint of warning.

Sheldon grinned. "Griffin."

A breath of relief. "Griffin?"

"Yes, Isaac Griffin Fowler Cooper."

Her relief was abruptly cut at what she heard. "Did you hyphenate our last names?!"

Sheldon jerked back. "Oh, no, no. I always listened to what you said. You didn't want to hyphen because it might be a burden when filling out documents. That's his second middle name. But he can figure it out when he grows up."

"Griffin . . ." Amy contemplated along with loud suckling sound. "I like that name. Why haven't we thought of that?" She smiled, the very first one where she's not sweaty and in pain or dead-tired and drained.

Amidst the darkness, Amy saw Sheldon blush, grinning foolishly. "Well, you said you didn't want any silly names on our list, but I had that on mine, alongside Kal-El, Anakin, Obi-wan, Charles Xavier, which by the way, are names of very powerful people."

"Fictional people," she stressed out. "Although, Xavier is kind of a cool name."

"Alright, I'll back down." He raised his hands in surrender. "You know that I've always wanted a griffin since when I was a young boy. Of course our son is technically not a griffin, but he's a Griffin," he explained, sitting beside Amy. "And the scientist's name from H.G. Wells' _The Invisible Man_ was named Griffin. I do hope Isaac discovers invisibility, but I wish he does not use it to terrorize people."

It was now Amy's turn to blush and grin foolishly. "That's very sweet of you," she said, relating with her husband's innocent dream of having a griffin, but being indifferent about his dream of their son being the Invisible Man.

"D-Do you want something to eat?" Sheldon offered, accepting Isaac in his arms and cradling him for a while.

Amy noticed Sheldon's glassy eyes against the sun peeking through the blinds. He never broke his stare at their little boy's face. Noticing the silence, Sheldon looked up and saw his wife staring at them. A smile crept on his face, the one where his teeth were barely showing but his cheeks were extending up to his ears. A look of sheer happiness that words couldn't explain. He cleared his throat and asked again, "Are you hungry?

Amy shook his head. "No, not yet. I'm sure they're delivering my food anytime soon." She regarded the way Sheldon carried their child. Like an expert father, there was an initial hesitation but soon morphed into courage and credence.

She pushed herself up from the bed very gently. "In the meantime, can you help me in the bathroom?"


	3. Chapter 3

**Progeny 1.2: January 2020 – February 2021**

* * *

_**January 7, 2020** _

Amy gazed at her husband, unsettled by what he was about to do. "Do you really have to go?"

He sighed heavily. "We do have that meeting with President Siebert. You told me you don't want to go and I understand that." Sheldon felt the self-reproach creeping up but he chose to suppress it. "And Amy you're on maternity leave, you must rest, okay?" he said softly, sitting down on the foot of their bed.

"But that doesn't mean that you should go . . ."

"I know . . . I will be home at exactly 12 p.m. Know that I'm also on paternity leave, so call me if you need something." Reassuring Amy was one of the jobs, alongside fatherhood, he had filled in. "I'll bring us lunch when I get home. I love you, Amy."

Amy watched as Sheldon disappeared from their bedroom door. She had waited for 3 hours, receiving two calls from her husband, asking how she was doing.

How was she doing? Other than mentally, physically, and emotionally exhausted, she felt empowered. But being alone with their newborn son had conjured thoughts that made her restless. Fortunately, she only had to feed and carry her son once during her solitude, harboring what's left of her mental capacity to be careful with the fragile human being.

Sticking to his promise, Sheldon entered the apartment door 10 minutes before his promised time and brought with him their lunch. They sat around the kitchen island, Sheldon rambling about the meeting and any topic that he could think of. Everything went over Amy's head. She was quiet and restless, looking down at her plate, for the most part.

". . . Now that mom's not here anymore, I'll do most of the chores."

Amy dropped her fork slowly and heaved deeply. It made Sheldon jerk his head up, plastered on his face was the look of worry. "Sheldon," Amy called in labored breath and groaned deeply.

He jumped up to his feet, catching Amy who was about to lose consciousness. With all the adrenaline billowing through his veins, Sheldon carried his wife to the couch and leaned her against the cushion. "Amy," he called in her ear. Sheldon breathed calmly when he felt Amy's cold fingers entwine on his neck.

Sheldon pulled back and watched his pale wife blink languidly, breathing shallow breaths. Holding her cheeks, he worriedly asked, "Hey, are you alright? What happened?"

"I-I don't know . . . I was panicking," she responded weakly. "I don't know, Sheldon."

Without hesitation, Sheldon sat down and embraced her softly, letting her full weight lean into him. He knew very well the feeling of a panic attack. He should have listened to his wife's request for him to stay home. Her reluctance to let him go to the meeting just for three hours should have been a dead giveaway that she was more mortified than ever before.

She was trembling. Her hands were cold, and her breaths were shallow. Sheldon waited until her breathing relaxed a bit, counting every second of her distress, hoping that Isaac wouldn't make a fuss just for a few minutes.

Once Amy displayed some strength, Sheldon incurred something that might help his wife. "Amy, remember the very first night we spent with each other . . . in one bed . . . on your birthday. Both of us were really nervous, but then, before we parted to prepare for our night, you abruptly pushed me to sit on the couch and said . . ."

" _'We're both afraid, Sheldon. I am afraid. Can we breathe together, just for a while."_

A tiny smile sneaked on his lips. Just as what he wanted to hear. "Exactly," he said gently. "We also did that before we faced our family and friends on our wedding day. We did it often when you were still pregnant. And you might not remember it, but I was breathing alongside you as you held my hand and powered through every contraction."

Gentleness is what Amy is. And right then and there, with all the might she could muster, she felt touched by her husband's kind gesture. She never thought about that. Due to overwhelming feelings and emotions, her prefrontal cortex shut off, causing that panic attack. What if Sheldon wasn't around? Would she just crumble on the ground? Would she ignore their child? Would she do something that might harm anyone?

Sheldon noticed another onset of panic. He held her hands tightly, still keeping a gentle voice, he said, "Isaac is sleeping." He stood up without ever breaking his hold on her hand. "I'm going to set a timer on my phone. We'll breathe together for 10 minutes, and you will go to our bedroom and take a nap. Of course, interruptions from our son will be allowed, but I'll be the one to attend to him while you continue."

Amy agreed, nodding her head weakly, but still dogged to pursue Sheldon's suggested. Rest was all she needed. And Sheldon giving it outright was nothing short of lovely. She positioned herself, crossing her legs to where her body can bear the slight discomfort, leaning her back against the couch.

Sheldon grabbed a pillow and cushioned it as he sat on the floor at the foot of Amy. It was unusual to be in this predicament. His wife on his spot while he perched himself on the floor in between the couch and the coffee table. Their son just a few feet away, still peacefully snoozing on his bassinet.

The timer started and serene, ambient music played. Amy let the weight of her eyelids fall, as her breathing deepened. She felt Sheldon's hands grasping her's, warming it gingerly.

Suddenly, his gentle voice echoed in the room.

_"You are a strong, wonderful human being."_

It was clear and resolute, enough to keep her in a trance.

_"You are beautiful through and through."_

Sheldon's voice blocked out every noise.

_"You are the light with which a path was born . . ."_

_"You are the foundation of our relationship"_

Amy felt her chest twitching at his words.

_"You understand things others cannot. You understand things others would not."_

A tear fell from her eye.

_"You are intelligent, independent."_ Sheldon huffed. _"Compassionate and forgiving."_

Her husband's calm and deep breaths resonated with her.

_"You are an inspiration to me."_

_"I am grateful for all of you."_

_"I am grateful for our child, whom you carried fearlessly."_

_"I am indebted to you."_

_"I love you, Amy."_

Sheldon stood up gingerly and pecked his wife's forehead for the longest time he could. He started cleaning up their table and let her be by herself.

* * *

_**March 3, 2020** _

The city lights peeked through the windows. He looked at the serene face of his son. Instinct told him to sing a lullaby, a soft song, perhaps. His father never sang a lullaby, his mother barely. But he heard the old man hum a song, once or twice, when he was younger. A song which he eventually discovered to be something meaningful and applicable to his situation.

_Close your eyes_

_Have no fear_

_The monster's gone_

_He's on the run and your daddy's here_

_Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful_

_Beautiful boy_

_Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful_

_Beautiful boy_

He nestled his son on his neck, breathing in the combination of his wife's natural scent and his son's intoxicating milky smell.

_Before you cross the street_

_Take my hand_

_Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans_

_Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful_

_Beautiful boy_

"Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful

Beautiful boy . . ." he sang the last few words like he would hum the Star Wars' theme song—brimming with emotions and vigor yet toned down to accommodate the infant's slumber.

Unlike anything, a child is something he thought he didn't want. Is having him a blessing? Maybe. Does he deserve all the good things bestowed upon him? Maybe not. One thing is for sure: nothing beats the song his father would hum when he was younger, and to be beholden by the song is to be beholden to everyone in his life.

He lowered down the infant into his bassinet. His wife just entered the room, surprised to have seen her husband single-handedly put their little one into peaceful sleep.

* * *

_**May 10, 2020** _

Sheldon hid his face on Isaac's abdomen, before popping up to surprise him. "Where's Isaac . . ." he cooed. The five-month old's ability to appear delighted still hadn't yet ascended from a smile and a single note of inhale while showing his pinkish gums. Sheldon was expecting to get that dulcet giggle of his son but Amy appeared to be Isaac's favorite. "You're feeling good now, bubba?" Sheldon said, passing on the pet name the Cooper grandparents used to call him when he was younger.

Isaac's face contorted slightly. It was as though he understood that his father's attempt to play with him was just a ruse to stop him from feeling what ails him.

"It's gonna be fine, son. Teething is part of growing up. Although yours might not appear in a month or so, I know the discomfort you are feeling right now," Sheldon assured, rubbing Isaac's little belly and carrying him.

"I know you want to play, but we do have to do something for your mother."

Sheldon rounded the corner into their living room and saw Amy on the floor, contorting her body. It was yoga, she had been doing before getting pregnant. As Sheldon perfectly remembered, Amy was doing the cobra pose—terrifying—with her legs flat on the mat and her upper body curved up and supported by her hands. From his interpretation, he sees her pose as more of a logarithmic graph rather than a venomous snake.

Sheldon stood there watching his wife. Isaac's head nestled on his neck, he couldn't be bothered by his mother's compromised position.

Amy laid flat on her back, breathing and relaxing for a few seconds, still oblivious of Sheldon and Isaac watching her curiously. As her eyes opened, an upside-down picture of the father-son duo warmed her heart. She smiled and pushed herself up gingerly, sitting with her legs folded. "Good morning, boys," she greeted giddily amidst her sweaty state.

"Happy 1st Mother's Day."

"Thank you." Amy stood up and kissed her son's head. She said, "That's very kind of you," before giving Sheldon a peck on the lips.

"I've invited your parents for brunch."

Amy's face lightened up. "The folks would be delighted, Sheldon."

Surprisingly, their celebration only got better once Amy's parents arrived. After the family brunch, for which they made the kitchen island a makeshift table, Amy's mother and father stayed for a good few hours. The in-laws' help was something they cherished. During that time, Amy and Sheldon dropped by the Wolowitzes, who were celebrating themselves, and to Penny and Leonard, who didn't bother making a feast. With Penny's due date around the corner, she doesn't want to exert too much effort and let Leonard bring take away food instead.

Night came, and with that Isaac fell asleep in a nick of time. Quicker than they expected, that gave Sheldon and Amy a few hours to kill.

"I apologized about that flower mishap," Sheldon said with a sigh. He rubbed the bridge of his nose and continued, "I called the shop and they told me the arrangement I ordered will arrive on Tuesday, for our anniversary. And then I realized that I didn't order flowers for today."

Amy turned her body around. "Don't worry about the flowers, Love."

Sheldon turned off his iPad. "I suppose you're right. Giving flowers only blew up during the Victorian era. You know I'm more of an Enlightenment guy."

Amy smirked. "I prefer the Renaissance."

Sheldon let out a breathy laugh, nudging her arm. "Of course, you do."

* * *

_**August 19, 2020** _

"How is daddy daycare?" Amy greeted as she entered their apartment.

"Couldn't be better," Sheldon answered with a smile on his face. He scratched the back of his head with his face manifesting deep exhaustion.

What amazed Amy was how Sheldon's promises still stood until that day. He promised to work at home at least once a week to take care of Isaac. Amy thought that would only last until Isaac reaches 6 months, for which they can already utilize the university's daycare facility. But here they were, Isaac just turned 8 months and Sheldon's still keeping his promise.

Amy rushed to him as she saw the current state of her husband. "Oh no, what happened, Sheldon?"

"Puke, puke, urine, and a little bump I acquired while getting the rash cream that rolled under the drawer." He pointed at the wet and stained patches on his shirt and pants, and the small but crimson bruise on his forehead. "I used to like cylindrical containers but for my well-being, as well as yours, let's stick to something with corners."

"Oh, I'm so sorry."

"No need for apologies. I had a great time." He declined his wife's attempt for a hug, knowing fully that she wouldn't want to smell that on him. "I badly wanted to change but I realized this is my Wednesday shirt. Tell me, Amy, should I change?"

Amy grinned. "Do you want me to change it for you?"

The two exchanged laughs. She assured her husband, "Ha! Love, some days are good, some are bad. I'll take it from here."

Sheldon returned minutes later. His hair was wet, and he already wore his pajama bottoms and white shirt. He stepped down the platform and said, "How was your day?"

"Great. We had a small celebration after the neuroscience center opened. The brain aficionados freaked out with the new offices and equipment! Including me," Amy squealed, which made Isaac giggle in his playpen.

"It's about time they opened that building." He leaned into the counter, eagerly. "Did you get my message this afternoon?"

A cheeky grin crept on her face. "Oh, what a stud are you, huh? Of course, I'd like to do that."

Sheldon jerked his head in surprise. "Really, you wouldn't mind doing it on a weekday?"

Amy shrugged, smirking. "It's always fun on a weekday."

"How about some sugar?" Sheldon suggestively raised his eyebrows, his eyes droopy.

Amy played into his hands and kissed him tenderly.

"Speaking of sugar, I brought cookies."

He shivered with a grin. "Ooh, you know how much I love cookies!"

"Just an FYI, it's lactation cookies. And I wouldn't mind, at all, you being the milk machine tonight. Just give this to me, Love."

* * *

_**October 8, 2020 – 2:00 a.m.** _

Amy was awakened by the shrill noise from their bedside table. She let it pass but it started again, annoying her. "Sheldon, shut your phone." She tapped her husband's arm but to no avail. _Answer your phone, Sheldon! Isaac's sleeping_! Irritated that he wouldn't budge, she smacked him even harder, which made Sheldon flinch.

"You shut your phone! That's not mine," Sheldon grumbled back. Scrunching his forehead, he pressed his head further into the pillow.

"It's yours." Amy nudged him, still vexed that Sheldon wouldn't answer. Fed up, Amy reached onto his side table, maybe purposely putting her weight on top of him, and answered the call.

_"Doctor Cooper and Doctor Fowler. . ."_

"He's talking about you." Amy laid back down, shoving the phone into her husband's face. Thankfully, he accepted.

_". . . to announce the . . ."_

"Hmm . . ." The phone slipped off Sheldon's hands, but his reflexes surprisingly kicked in.

_" . . . in Physics . . ."_

Sheldon moved away the phone from his ear and addressed to his wife, "They're talking about physics, Amy. Who are these people?"

"Dr. Sheldon Cooper . . ." The man with a unique accent called upon him on the other line. His tone was serious, enough to send a shock through Sheldon's body and have him snap out of it.

He gulped and answered with a hoarse voice. "Yes?"

_"Your super asymmetry work co-authored with Dr. Amy Fowler has been honored with the 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics. A nomination submitted by your institution, California Institute of Technology, has passed months of pervasive deliberation from our Nobel Committee. The Academy is looking forward to seeing you and Dr. Fowler receive your award in Stockholm. A few minutes from now, the Academy will publicize all the winners. Warmest regards to you, Dr. Cooper, and also to Dr. Fowler."_

* * *

_**December 11, 2020** _

"How does it feel to be married to a Nobel Laureate?" Amy whispered to her barely awake husband.

"You tell me," Sheldon responded with a gruff voice. Suddenly, his eyes widened and pushed himself up. "Oh no, where's our son?!"

Amy pulled him back to bed. "Relax, he's next door. Mary's taking care of him," she assuaged, still not ready to exert too much effort.

"I thought we lost him." Sheldon sighed as he wiped the sweat on his forehead.

"Did you really forget what happened last night?"

"What happened?" He turned his head to his wife, confused. Suddenly, his cheeks turned crimson. "Oh Lord, did I embarrass myself in front of the King of Sweden?"

Amy shook her head. "Sheldon, you should remember what happened at the ceremony; you weren't drinking yet."

"I said those things . . ."

"Beautifully said, I must say. Remembering all the people who were there for you. You bet me for the best Nobel Speech of the Year, you'd certainly win."

"I don't know with you, but Nobel Peace Prize winners typically deliver more heartfelt speeches. But then again, their ceremony is in Norway, so I'll concede." He shrugged proudly. "And yours was nothing short of phenomenal. I even saw your mother wipe a tear."

"Though, you're pretty uninhibited toward the end of the banquet. You even raised your coattails and zoomed around the hall. The guys had to chase you around and contain you." Amy let out a chuckle, delighted at the happenings of yesternight.

"Oh, Lord." Sheldon covered his face in embarrassment.

"Not only that, but you insisted on making another speech after the Academy asked every winner to say a few casual words to the visitors."

He groaned. "Did they stop me?"

"Leonard shoved the wine glass in your mouth and turned you on your feet a couple of times. That gave us a minute before you gained your energy once again." Amy stopped to catch her breath. "But you puked minutes later, putting an end to your vivacity."

Sheldon groaned. "I hoped they didn't renounce our win."

"No, they didn't." Amy let out a sigh after her bout of chuckling. "It's right there on our nightstand."

Relieved, Sheldon pressed his head down into the pillow, prepared to sleep for another 5 minutes. He was drifting off to sleep when he shot up from the bed again.

"Oh shoot! It's Isaac's first birthday!" he bellowed like he's had the most terrifying nightmare. Actually, forgetting about a child's first birthday is quite terrifying. "What are you laughing at?"

Amy wiped the tear on her face. "I already kissed and greeted him. Don't wake him up, alright?"

* * *

_**February 11, 2021** _

"It's date night. Come on!" Amy enthusiastically dragged her husband on the dance floor. The 'dance floor' was much of an open space, and there was little to no dancing happening. The music wasn't even that upbeat nor classy to spark a dancing craze.

"Nobel Laureates don't dance, Amy," Sheldon gritted his teeth in annoyance. His eye-rolling didn't persuade his wife who was busy with herself.

"I do." She fluttered her head to the left then to the right, raising her arms just above her head as she closed her eyes. "And I just did."

"Fine." Sheldon started stepping to the left and to the right, not minding about moving his upper body.

"Shake it, Babe!"

"I'm not here to party; I'm here to have a wonderful night with my wife," he stressed, moving closer to her.

"Why did you say no to free drinks? They're free!"

"One of us has to drive, and one of us needs to appear sober in front of Isaac."

"I'm not inebriated, it was just two drinks." Amy raised two fingers, but then a second of sobriety flashed across her eyes. "Don't let me breastfeed until tomorrow. Heat up a milk bag from the fridge, alright, Honey?"

It was a few hours since the benefactor they met left, and Amy still would not cease her fun. Dance, drink, and talk was her cycle. He's sweating through his sweater and yet Amy's still not bothered by the heat. Or maybe it's only him that's sweating. He needed to appear presentable in front of the person who's willing to spend his money on two newly minted Nobel Laureates, that's why he slapped on a neatly pressed shirt topped it with a presentable sweater and draped a sport coat he bought for the very sake of being the face of Nobel Prize.

Sheldon jolted from his heat-induced reverie when she ran her palms from his abdomen to his chest. He held Amy's hand and asked, "Are you feeling good?" without ever intending a hint of innuendo.

"Affirmative." Amy moved her hands around Sheldon's neck, "You feel good, Babe," and lightly pressed her body on her husband.

"Amy," he chided with his authoritative voice, jerking away slowly, enough not to catch any attention and anger his wife. He knew Amy was not that drunk. Years of observing her imbibe on their girls' night proved that maybe Amy is just having fun for their night. She's always silly, always teasing him. He let it slip and continued holding her.

Amy inhaled deeply and cupped her hand on Sheldon's ear. _"Let's make a baby,"_ she whispered, after following through a chuckle.

On cue, Sheldon reddened, but he smiled sadly at Amy's suggestion. "We can't do that in a public place. And most definitely not while you're drunk."

Like nothing happened, Amy continued swaying with her husband. Sheldon grew confused and curious at her bizarre actions. Pushing away her short hair, he glanced at her ear and was assuaged when he saw it turn red. Sheldon sighed in relief to have known that his wife was clearly affected by alcohol, not by pure sentimentality that was brought by their first night out for that year.

Before Amy could get another drink, Sheldon held her closely, fearing that Amy might be drowning herself in alcohol after the three months of whirlwind that zoomed by. Amy wiped the corner of her lips and remarked, "Can you believe two Nobel Laureates are partying in this college town and snatching free drinks?"

"No," he replied, curious about her word usage. _Partying_. It was more of slow dancing, now that the ambiance of the place changed. "Let's keep it tame, Amy. These college kids, of which you've been talking about, look up to us with pure admiration."

"Okay, Sweetheart." Amy laid her head on his shoulder. "I can't believe I'm partying with college kids now."

Sheldon smiled and held her closer as the lights dimmed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Progeny 2.1: April 2021 – September 2021**

* * *

_**March 17, 2021** _

Sheldon and Amy sat closely together, arms touching so lightly as they were in a public place.

Amy observed in amazement as their 15-month old son sat quietly on the barber's chair. She leaned into her husband, curious at their son's behavior. "I've never seen a toddler his age that sits through an entire barber session."

Sheldon glanced and replied, "Me neither. He's barely moving, Amy."

"Not even a device to distract him. It's like he's a statue."

Amy and Sheldon shared a quiet laugh so as not to disturb Isaac's pensiveness. The child's sole apathy toward having another person mess up with his hair seemed to tickle his parents. He was just content by the entertainment brought upon by watching himself in front of the mirror.

After quite some time, the two stopped chuckling. Amy spared their son a look and was surprised to see the boy looking back at her through the mirror. She and Isaac locked eyes, and the boy produced a smile that melted Amy's heart.

Amy held his husband's arm and continued watching, even though Isaac had already busied himself with the drawing on his cape. Sheldon noticed it and asked what happened.

Pouting her lower lip, Amy uttered the most insane thing she could have said, "My biological clock is pinging like crazy!"

Sheldon smiled but confusion struck his face "What does that imply?"

"Look how adorable our son is," Amy said pointing at the boy giggling as his barber was cutting around his ear.

Sheldon raised his eyebrow. "Are you proposing that we engage in procreation."

Amy gazed at him intently. "Sheldon, will you be the father to our second child?"

"It's hard to say no to you," he responded, concealing the grin he had, "but we have to take everything into consideration."

Amy gasped and tightened her hold on his hand. "That is exactly what I told you when you asked me to have a baby.'

"I'm just emulating your words," Sheldon said. "Seriously, Amy, we just have to traverse this very slowly and very carefully."

Amy nodded. "I know. Slow and steady wins the race."

"Yes, slow and steady wins the race. The prize may be ambiguous at this point, but I'm sure we will be rewarded with something we both will be grateful for." Sheldon smiled contentedly. Child or no child, he was certain that it wouldn't derail their relationship. After all they've been through, Sheldon was grateful that Amy even brought up the idea of having a second child. "If we plan on having another child, do you think that their age gap wouldn't result in mayhem?"

"I don't think so. Isaac is an old soul ever since he started interacting with us. Potty training is going well, although a few accidents here and there. He can feed himself, albeit still struggling to keep everything clean. And we can engage with conversations with him." Amy gazed back at Isaac. "I wouldn't be surprised that he starts growing a beard anytime soon."

Sheldon jerked lightly. "A beard? Is that a diss on my inability to grow facial hair?"

"Maybe, maybe not." Shrugging, Amy chuckled softly at herself. "I never saw you sporting one, though."

Sheldon exhaled and asked, "Anyway, we're not in a rush, are we?"

Amy beamed at her husband. "We'll take it slow."

* * *

_**July 11, 2021; 12:18 p.m.** _

"Amy . . . sorry," Sheldon shrieked in remorse. His cries echoed through the room, as though it was to attract any nosey neighbors.

Amy paced around the apartment, filling a glass of water, washing her hands, retrieving the kitchen first aid kit.

"Are you angry at me?" he sobbed. Amy continued to be silent. Her footfalls proved to be the contrary—heavy and screaming of irritation.

She grabbed his hand, somewhat forcefully but not intentional, which made Sheldon winced.

"Amy, I'm sorry." He was very apologetic, wiping the tears off his face.

Sheldon lowered his eyes, seeking after hers. "You won't talk to me," he declared resolutely, their fate was in his hands, and he knew what it would be: this event might catalyze their separation.

"Contemplate about what you did, Sheldon," she answered, holding her stern stance. The way she called his name sent chills down his spine. Rarely does Amy call him like that with such a formidable voice and every time she does, it makes him question why he did something that aggravated her.

"It's quite moronic," Sheldon said unabashedly, grimacing at the pain from his hand.

Amy scoffed. "Quite? I'd say it's extremely moronic. No doubt about it."

"Oww," he moaned once again as Amy squeezed his hand. "Are you angry at me?"

"No," she answered resolutely.

"Why are you scowling, then?" He looked deeper into her face, seeing how this was affecting her.

Amy dropped his hand, annoyance was clear on her face. "Because what you did is very rash and inconsiderate. You should have thought about that before acting like a madman."

Sheldon held his head down as Amy continued tending on his hand. "I know, I'm sorry."

"People will think that you're this callous, belligerent man hitting your _pregnant_ wife." Amy's tone softened, almost choking up. She whispered on the word _pregnant_ , for they were still early on their pregnancy, and it was their promise not to tell anyone until they enter the second trimester.

"I won't do that," he assured. "I will never do that, Amy."

Amy gritted her teeth. "Then why did I come home to this mess?" She looked at the crumpled papers and mangled books on the floor, a few indents on their cement wall, and that iPad barely clinging to dear life.

His sobs continued. "I read something from the Internet about our Nobel, specifically about you. And I got mad and overwhelmed, and then lost myself."

Amy sighed and her voice softened. "You're aware that this is the first time, for the longest time, I've seen you this distraught over something as menial as an Internet troll."

Sheldon nodded his head in agreement. This would not happen if he just controlled his anger. All triggers had been piling upon him for the past few weeks: his work is currently on a dead-end, Siebert had been talking to him about teaching a class, Isaac had been quite a roughhouser lately, and his spat with the guys after some trivial video game had escalated. This also wouldn't happen if he just didn't read that article in the first place.

Exhausted and defeated, Amy cupped his cheeks and looked him in the eye. "You're aware that what you did is stressing me out, right?"

He shot up from the couch in a huff. "Shit! Amy! Don't worry about me anymore. It's not painful," he said as he hit his hand against the table, and his face contorted in pain as the glass felt like it shattered his hand.

"You just cussed, Love." Amy grabbed him by his left arm and embraced him gently. Sheldon broke down, sobbing and gasping for air. Murmuring words of apology, Sheldon went on a very lengthy, snot-ridden explanation. He soon relaxed, entrenched onto Amy's body. She broke off her hug and looked at him at an arm's length.

"I forgive you," Amy said softly, relieved that Sheldon had released all the emotions that had been troubling him for the longest time. The last time Amy saw him overcome with emotion was the time Isaac was born. Even going to Sweden and receiving their Nobel seemed like a run of the mill day for him, no tears were shed when they were in the Nordic region.

Amy gazed at his red-rimmed eyes. She wiped away the tears lovingly, expressing her forgiveness but still holding him for a serious talk later on. "I want to hug you for a long time, but I have no doubt that your hand is fractured, and the least I could do is drive you to the hospital."

"A man like me doesn't deserve the hospital," he said in remorse, looking at his purplish knuckles. Amy grabbed a splint from the kit and secured it gently around his hand.

"I love you, but I did not marry a martyr, so we're driving there." She stood up, determined. "I laud you for not doing this in the presence of Isaac. I don't think he would be too happy to see his father incapacitated in two days' time."

_**July 11, 2021; 5:58 p.m.** _

"Let me . . ."

Amy sighed at his display of stubbornness. "No, we're not cleaning anything; you—we—need to rest," she said in conviction, tugging Sheldon's left arm to pull him away from the mess.

Sheldon turned to her, clearly drugged. "What about dinner?"

"There's some leftover minestrone in the fridge, I'll reheat it."

Their meal had been nothing but quiet, eerily and annoyingly quiet. For Amy, it had been. For Sheldon, he didn't feel that much, maybe due to painkillers, too. He insisted on doing the dishes, doing what he can with his non-dominant hand.

Amy thought about Sheldon's stubbornness. You wouldn't expect a man of his brilliance to act the way that he did. This weekend was supposed to be their downtime as parents. She didn't expect to tend to someone incapacitated right now.

"I feel bad," he muttered as they were walking to their bedroom.

"You should be," she replied sternly. "But tonight's not the time to be feeling that way. We have all day tomorrow."

"But tomorrow is Monday!" he weakly protested.

Amy nodded her head as she gently pushed her husband inside their bedroom. "Exactly. Which is why we won't be going in to work the first place. I want you to rest, and Amy wants to rest."

* * *

_**August 21, 2021** _

"Hi," Amy greeted as soon as Sheldon's face popped up on the screen.

He beamed very modestly. "Hello, Amy."

"How was your lecture?"

"Surprisingly well. Believe me, my audience was nothing but enthusiastic about hearing our Nobel-winning study. I wished you could be here."

Amy smiled sadly. "We'll have that joint lecture next month in Dallas. I'm sure that would be even more exciting."

"And you're heading to Sacramento in 2 weeks." Sheldon sighed as lectures after lectures piled for the next months and so. He couldn't help but worry about Amy who's four months into her pregnancy.

"I know. Sometimes we go separate ways, sometimes we stick together—that's the wonder of marriage."

Amused, Sheldon's eyes lightened and a grin crept on his face. "Where is this sentimentality coming from?"

Amy shrugged. "I'm kinda inspired today."

" _Kinda?_ Did someone slip a Mickey on your faux mimosa? Amy, I told you brunches are sometimes sketchy."

She hesitated on telling. "No, Penny brought me house hunting," she muttered. From the looks of it, the grooves on Sheldon's forehead became prominent, you couldn't tell if he's upset that his pregnant wife was dragged around the city or if he's confused about why his two best friends are buying another house.

"I hope Penny went easy on you, considering your current situation." Amy nodded, aware that her body is delicate with the pregnancy. "Did Penny tell you why you were house hunting?"

"Well, she said that they outgrew their 2-bedroom townhouse. She wants to have a place with the view of the valley. I am not fully aware of the details, but I'm sure she and Leonard had talked this through."

Sheldon was silent for a while. Still, Amy couldn't deduce his emotion. "Very well, then. They have the means, they can pay for it," he said nonchalantly.

Amy furrowed her eyebrows. "Aren't you going to reprimand Penny?"

Sheldon shrugged. "She's a grown woman; she can decide whatever she wants. And what's the use of Leonard if he's not going to reprimand her? Is he just her sperm dispenser?"

Amy gazed at him incredulously, wondering where the brash language and nonchalance came from. "What has gotten into you?"

"Nothing." Sheldon removed his reading glasses and moved around the room, as though letting the topic fly off their heads.

"Sheldon . . ." Amy said upon realizing. It was the elephant in the room. There's not enough room for it in their 2-bedroom apartment yet it managed to squeeze itself into their family. "There's no rush," she said with her warm voice. With Sheldon walking around his hotel room, she couldn't tell if he heard what she said.

Sheldon moaned and sat forcefully on the bed. "I'm aware of that, but being punctual is what I am. I feel incompetent for not giving our family a house!"

"You're not. A house is just an object. All I want for our family is to be together. That's all that matters, really," Amy assured, even though she couldn't disagree more on Sheldon "This is not the place and time to argue about this. When you get home, we'll talk."

Sheldon rubbed his forehead in frustration. "I'll work on it, Amy," he declared. "I will provide you with everything the family needs."

* * *

_**September 23, 2021** _

Sheldon narrowed his eyes and glared at his wife, who was staring at him like a predator. "What are you looking at?"

Amy grinned and slowly closed her book. "Have I ever told you how handsome and sexy you look?"

"Wa—What are you doing?"

Amy just continued her delighted grin and devoured him with her lustful stare.

"I know where this is going," Sheldon sighed, his shoulders dropping. "Sex."

He was in the midst of unbuttoning his pajama top when Amy gasped, as though she was affronted. "Sheldon!"

"What? It's not sex?" He looked at her in interest. Sheldon swept away his growing hair and asked innocently, "Is it about the hair."

"It's not about sex, but the hair played a huge role to it," Amy explained. His haircut had been put off for almost a month after a series of lectures and seminars that occupied their time. "Anyway, you can finish what you've started. I know, for a fact, that you are a man who doesn't leave things unfinished."

Sheldon quickly removed his shirts, walking toward the bed as he untangled his drawstring pants.

"What was that?" He knelt on the bed, bouncing, and faced his wife. "Did the pregnancy hormones play a part in this."

"I read something about complimenting your significant other." Sheldon's face contorted, seemingly annoyed at her implication. He's starting to question the kind of husband he is. "No! You've done a great job on complimenting me with your beautiful ways," she quickly redeemed herself, rubbing his thigh. "I'm referring to women complimenting their male significant others."

"Ohh . . ."

"And I somehow enjoy seeing your reaction from a spontaneous compliment."

Sheldon leaned in and kissed her. "Just don't abuse it," he whispered.

"You really are a masterpiece," Amy moaned, as Sheldon's hand caressed her thigh.

"You're better than me," he said sadly, pulling away. "Amy, something's bothering me."

Realizing Sheldon's woes, Amy pulled down her nightgown and pushed him to sit on his legs. "Uh-oh, Is this about Isaac? Sheldon, as much as I miss him, he's only 4 hours away, enjoying his time with his cousins. We'll drive down there as soon as we're done here in Dallas."

"No, it's not about Isaac, Amy," Sheldon said. Realizing that his mother is also at Missy and her husband's house, there's no reason to worry about Isaac's safety. "You're aware that the university has awarded us distinguished professorship roles, but I can't live up to the title." He rubbed his forehead in disappointment. "I'd have to be a doctoral advisor!"

"I know what you're feeling, Sheldon," Amy assuaged. "But I'd have to be one, too. First impressions of graduate students don't usually last. You always know that these students of yours are nothing but good people."

"Are they though? When Howard signed up for my class—which by the way, he was my only student—he was very mean to me." Sheldon huffed and crossed his arms.

"People usually display behaviors that reflect their peers."

He pulled down his arms and sought for his shirt. "I don't understand."

"Think of it as parenting—you and I have done it, right?" Sheldon nodded, curious. "We need to set a good example for our kids but not to the point of smothering them or crossing their boundaries. We are there to guide them. We share a laugh or two, even treat them as they're equal. But we never control them in things that do not need controlling. We let them read whatever book they want. We let them choose what toy appeals to them. Even, we let them decide what activities they want to do."

He shook his head in reluctance. "Amy . . ."

"But we have to acknowledge that these have boundaries. You can't give them heavy and hard-bound physics books. You can't give them dangerous toys. And at this age, we can't let Isaac do the cooking. It's similar to students, or really, any person. We have to create a boundary that works on both sides. We need to listen, guide, and support to establish respect, as well as authority."

Sheldon gaped at her to digest her advice. "Amy, I think I know where you are going." He nodded his head. "I need to improve my social skills."

Amy shook her head in disagreement. "There is no need to improve something. What you learn as a father applies to your students, but of course, lay-off the baby talks and childish gameplay."

"I don't know, Amy . . ."

"Don't worry about students not listening to you. They're graduate students already; they should, at the very least, acknowledge the brilliance of a Nobel Laureate in front of them," she said convincingly, prompting a smile to form on Sheldon's face. "And you don't usually have that many. The dean of neuroscience and I talked about mine, and I only have 4 master's students and 1 doctoral candidate under my tutelage. Not to mention, only 1 class for this semester. That's probably 15 students max."

Sheldon bobbed his head as he tried to put things together. Without Amy's input, he couldn't possibly solve this dilemma. "I'll try, Amy. I've been constantly moving President Siebert's request for a meeting about my teaching duties, and I'll make sure not to move next week's appointment."

* * *

_**October 16, 2021** _

"What's your M.O., Sheldon?" Amy asked. Suspicions were growing as Sheldon drove a different route than their usual Saturday Park Day.

"M.O.?" he asked, glancing at Amy. "Oh, my _modus operandi?_ It's more like Leonard and Penny's modus operandi. They want us to drop by their newly acquired residence," Sheldon nonchalantly said, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.

"Really?" She gazed at him with narrowed eyes. Sheldon's demeanor was suspicious enough. He seemed to perfect the art of lying through the years, and Amy couldn't figure out why he was tight-lipped at first. "Why haven't Penny told me about this? She's my best friend."

Sheldon bobbed his head. "We've been preoccupied with your pregnancy. Penny didn't want to bother us."

Amy let Sheldon's behavior slip. Whatever Penny and Leonard picked, she knew it would be lovely. She was with them, after all, and she couldn't wait any longer to witness the new home.

While reminiscing about the numerous houses they've visited, Amy couldn't help but think about the distant future where she and Sheldon will finally do a house hunting of their own. They've seen a few in the past—single-family houses, apartments, townhouses, condos. But time wasn't in their favor and their plans seemed so good to be true.

Amy glanced at the rearview mirror and saw their son, quietly looking out the window. Things that she would trade just to be with her children. Having another child on the way might possibly move their plans for another year or two, but she kept her spirits up to finally achieving their family's goals.

The car stopped in front of a house she can vaguely remember. As they stepped out of the vehicle, it became clear that it was one of the homes she gushed to Penny as they were house hunting. Who wouldn't want the house? Even from the outside, it looked very unconventional. Being in the San Rafael foothills, the house was situated at an angle, down a tiny bit of slope from the main road. In addition to that, she found one of the bedrooms amusing because it was detached from the main house, only connected by a laconic bridge.

She followed Sheldon and Isaac as they entered through the frosted door. Only the muffled noise from the backyard welcomed them, perhaps their friends already started the celebration. She felt a twinge in her chest as she saw the place. It looked better when she left it two months ago. A few furniture and appliances had been replaced. Amy suddenly felt a homey feeling when she saw the place, a feeling she never experienced the first time.

Unexpectedly, Sheldon turned to her, with pride and joy, and announced, "Welcome to your home."

Amy blinked her eyes. She looked at her husband's hand, holding a key. What other way did he unlock the door without someone opening it from the inside? Maybe Leonard gave him a key; they always did that as best friends. She gazed at her husband and contorted her face. This can't be real. "My home?"

Sheldon nodded. "Technically, I paid the down payment, bought the insurance, and took upon myself to pay the mortgage. But the wonder of conjugal properties is that we both are the owners."

Her lips tightened as she inhaled raggedly. "Sheldon . . ."

He approached her and grabbed her hand. "Penny said you liked this above all, which I could not argue."

"But this costs more than a million dollars," she yelped, confused on how to feel about the house she always wanted and the price she never knew she would be paying.

Sheldon raised a finger. "To be precise, almost everything with at least three bedrooms is over a million dollars. Housing prices here in Pasadena aren't as cheap as Galveston, Love." He emphasized. After months of refreshing housing websites and scouring Pasadena and neighboring cities, he finally hit the jackpot with this one. La Cañada and San Marino were among the contending cities, but the former was the farthest from Caltech, and the latter was rife with too many exorbitant houses that even finding one within the budget was not enough for his standards. Even so, Sheldon still anchored his search to the city he called his second home.

She tugged on her husband's hand, suppressing her emotions. "Sheldon . . ."

Sheldon interrupted her. "You shouldn't worry, Amy. I have been planning this ever since we won the Nobel. Even though not a single cent of our cash prize went into our personal interests, the very thought of winning a Nobel, encouraged me to finally find our family a proper dwelling," Sheldon confided as he caressed her belly.

"But where did you get the money?" At this point, Amy was so convoluted about spending money amid her pregnancy that she forgot how her husband is a finance savant.

Sheldon inhaled with pride. "20% of my annual salary—after taxes, of course—goes into safekeeping. 5% is for savings and investing, and the remaining 15% is for insurance and retirement, that is if I ever retire. I've been doing that for 25 years. Before that, I have been saving from the age of 6 in my piggy bank. Needless to say, it was more than enough to pay for the down payment and for renovation."

Amy stared at him in awe, her eyes watering from emotion.

Misinterpreting Amy's expression as anger, Sheldon raised his hands in surrender. "I promise, I didn't touch a single cent in our joint account. Everything came from me and a small loan."

"It's not that—"

"Isaac seems to love the place. There are two master bedrooms. I don't know if you liked the elevated one," Sheldon pointed at the short staircase leading to the room, "or the other one with the balcony leading to the backyard." He pointed to the door on the back end of the open-plan house. "Actually, it's listed as three bedrooms and two and a half bathrooms, but whichever bedroom you choose, I will have a bathtub installed, so we'll have a full bathroom. We also have an office area below the elevated room, accessed through doors detached to the main house. I also made that one our library, hence the renovation. I'm also planning to renovate the walkout basement and put a guest room over there in case our families visit."

Overcome with emotions, Amy hugged Sheldon tightly, gripping his shirt and silently cradled on his chest. Sheldon let out a small chuckle and caressed his wife's back, not letting Isaac out of his sight.

He kissed the top of her head, experiencing the affection and admiration of his wife. "And oh, our friends are already outside. It's sort of a pre-housewarming party. We won't move until everything is settled and you've contributed your input, which probably will be achieved before the end of the year," he whispered, cupping Amy's tear-stained face. "Come on now, Love. Today's a big day."

* * *

_**December 31, 2021 11:50 p.m.** _

"Happy New Year!" A Chorus of cheers greeted Amy as her friends gathered in their backyard.

"Did you sleep?" Sheldon asked, wrapping his arm around her waist.

"So much . . ." Amy smiled in delight. "I snoozed my alarm three times. Sorry, I'm late."

"Just in time." Sheldon glanced at his wristwatch. "Happy New Year, Amy," he greeted amidst the cacophony of fireworks from the nearby Rose Bowl Stadium. Sheldon was mid-air into giving his wife a kiss when the realization struck him. He yelped and covered his mouth. "Oh, shoot, I drank champagne 20 minutes ago."

Amy raised her eyebrow quizzically. "Champagne?"

"Yeah, my signature 'Dr. Cooper' with a packet of Splenda," he shouted as he dashed inside the house. "I'll brush my teeth! Wait for me."

Amy pivoted and was welcomed by the hugs and well wishes of her friends.

Everybody greeted in their own way, hugging Amy so carefully to avoid crushing her swelling stomach

Sheldon returned thereafter, shouting from a distance, "Hey, I didn't get to kiss my wife properly. Back off, everyone!" and jogged his way into the backyard.

He dropped to his knees, quelled a whimper, and pecked Amy's stomach, touching his head against it for a few seconds. He then stood up on his feet and gave his wife the New Year's kiss that she deserved.

Amy broke off the kiss that was getting some attention. "Happy New Year, Sheldon."

"And to you, too." He smiled back, before continuing. "I've checked on the kids, they're all asleep. And I've taught Halley earlier to use the walkie-talkie in case there's some crying."

Ami smiled at her husband. They all sat down on the deck, watching the fireworks shoot up in the sky and explode with enticing colors. Their faces were illuminated at every explosion, and Sheldon admired the subtle changes that manifested on his friends and wife. A decade ago, his and Amy's relationship was just beginning, Leonard and Penny were engaged in an on-and-off relationship, Howard and Bernadette were newlyweds, Raj's still navigating the dating scene, but he's more mature than before.

But Sheldon admired what became of his wife, more than anything else. How her physical features changed, but never her personality. He gazed at the back of her head, her hair was put up with sloppy style as a few strands of hair fell from the tie. "I loved it back when you still have long hair," Sheldon revealed, moving aside the hair on her neck. "But your short hair makes it easier for me to do this." He nuzzled his face on her nape, touching his nose on Amy's warm skin.

Ticklish, Amy jerked her head and giggled. "Sheldon, stop that."

"I can't. Your smell is always bewitching," he murmured, snaking his arm on her swollen belly. "What are you doing to me?"

"Hey, excuse us. Some people are trying to enjoy the fireworks display," said the group, admiring the sight of Sheldon and Amy exhibiting their vulnerable side.

The celebration continued until well after midnight. By then, their friends gathered inside their spare bedrooms, too spent to even drive home. Leonard, Penny, and their daughter are in the elevated bedroom, and the rest squeeze themselves into the basement's guest room. Overall, everybody embraced the year surrounded by people they cherish the most.


	5. Chapter 5

**Progeny 2.2: February 2022 – February 2023**

* * *

_**February 3, 2022** _

Amy closed her weary eyes as she listened to the low hum of the hospital room. Drifting on and off into slumber, she was awakened by either the streetlight streaming a soft, orange glow inside their room or Sheldon's one-sided conversation with their newborn that was rather chattering.

"Do you want to name him?" Amy heard her husband asked as he sat by their son's bassinet.

When they found out about their second pregnancy, picking a specific name for their child proved to be cumbersome work. To wrestle with the undertaking, Sheldon and Amy both had lists of names that they knew they wanted, and once their child is born, the quest to select a name begins.

Without missing a beat, she responded with the name that topped her list, "I really want Elliot."

"Then we'll name him Elliot," he said resolutely, bobbing his head as he gazed intently at the newborn.

"You can pick his middle name, but please choose a great one. Thank God, you didn't take advantage of my restlessness to give Isaac a ridiculous name," Amy chuckled softly, glaring at her husband.

"Well, this birth was smoother, you can name him with your sane judgment." Sheldon smiled, prepared to redeem himself after Amy's 10-hour labor.

After massaging Amy's perineum the night before the contractions, almost forgetting to call Amy's parents to look after Isaac, and packing the wrong 'loose dress' she took out for him to put in their go bag, the least that he could do is to be compliant. This pregnancy seemed to suck all the mojo out of him. The first one, he was very, very attentive when Amy's contractions started. But with this one, he was very calm about everything. Complacency is a heartless bitch, indeed. He didn't expect their second child to slide out like butter, he would've opted to be neurotic to show how much he really cares.

Amy opened her eyes and said, "I told you: Elliot. I want you to give him another name, but we still have to agree."

Sheldon paused, staring at the peaceful face of their son. "Elliot . . . Lawrence."

Amy shot her head up upon hearing the name. A smile formed on her face at the mention of her father's name. "Lawrence?"

Sheldon nodded. "Your father will like it."

However, confusion and guilt described Amy's reaction. "Sheldon, how about your dad?"

"George? Elliot George?" Sheldon scrunched his nose. Not that George is an awful name, he really can't see his son without imagining his father and older brother.

"Hmm . . ."

"It could use a few modifications." Sheldon's face lit up. "Oh, Dad's middle name is Ernest. He didn't really want people to know about it because, according to him, Ernest sounded very _soft_."

Sheldon continued, formulating name combinations that popped. "Elliot Lawrence Ernest. Lawrence Ernest Elliot . . ."

"Elliot Ernest Cooper," Amy said intently, waiting for her husband's approval.

Sheldon furrowed his forehead. He glanced down at their son and back to Amy. "But how about your father? He will not be pleased."

"We can always do it like Isaac's. Put Fowler as the second middle name. That way, two families get honored," Amy explained, trying to be sensible at the early hour. "Elliot Ernest Fowler Cooper," she said. Her father's name was lovely as the man, but she thought that her and Sheldon's idea of having Fowler as a second middle name was always endearing. It may not be in their children's surname, or they may not have inherited any of her parent's first name, seeing the Fowler on its own, strengthening their namesake, appeared to be a better option.

* * *

_**March 27, 2022** _

Sheldon stared at his eager firstborn. Isaac's eyes were swollen from crying himself to sleep, but it didn't hinder his eagerness to draw. Breathing in relief, Sheldon was grateful that Isaac was in a good mood and doesn't seem to remember the reason for his outburst: it was Amy's first real outing since giving birth to Elliot, and Isaac seemed to not have it at all.

Clasping a dry erase marker in his hand, Isaac raised it to catch Sheldon's attention. "Can you draw?"

Sheldon knelt on one knee and said, "Hmm . . . let's see what we can do." He accepted the marker Isaac was holding out. What should he draw? It's been a while since the last he illustrated something outside of science. It should be something simple, something that a child would understand.

"Here, Daddy." Isaac lifted his shirt and buckled his bare stomach out.

Stunned, Sheldon cocked his head in wonder. "On your stomach?" He was ready to crack up at his son's crazy antics but decided not to.

Isaac smacked his skin. "Yes, stomach!"

"What should I draw?" Sheldon asked as he questioned his drawing skills.

"Elephant!" The 2-year old shouted, lowering his voice after his father shushed him softly as his one-month-old brother was sleeping in the corner.

"We can't do that. Mom will be surprised to see a huge drawing on your stomach. How about an electron instead? Daddy can draw an electron." He's getting better at compromises. What better to start easy is to do it with his son.

"M'Kay," the boy agreed, protruding his stomach more to Sheldon's direction.

Sheldon sat on the floor and took the cap off the marker. "Just a small one . . ." he said as he drew a dot above Isaac's belly button.

"'Nother here!" Sheldon sighed at his son's request, drawing another one beside it. "Here too!" Isaac pointed just below his belly button.

"Okay, okay, this is the last one," Sheldon said, focused on making a dot imperfect, that way, his wife might confuse it for a mole. "And we're done."

"You too!" Isaac jumped on his feet, attempting to snatch away the marker from his father's hand. "Me, me! You're tummy."

Sheldon paused and thought for a while. He doesn't want to cause another meltdown, but he also doesn't want him to make a huge drawing on his skin. Surrendering, Sheldon lifted his shirt just below his chest and lay down on the bed. He looked at his son and said, "Don't make it too big, huh?"

Isaac nodded and went on to vandalize Sheldon's skin. He couldn't see the action, but it sure felt like Isaac's scribbles had been extending and extending to his waist. _Oh boy,_ he yelped internally when Isaac poked his belly button.

"What are you boys doing?" Amy caught them off-guard. Isaac had this silly grin on his face, while Sheldon was in an awkward position, propped against the foot of their bed.

"Drawing!" Isaac shouted before proceeding on his masterpiece.

Amy walked closer to have a look. "A what?"

"A tron."

"He meant electron," Sheldon clarified, staring at his wife whose face was turning red, and her hand covering her mouth like she was on the verge of bursting. "But it looks like strings."

Satisfied with himself, Isaac stopped his activity and looked at Amy. "You too, Mommy!"

Amy calmed herself down and proposed an irresistible offer to their wildly creative child. "Oh, Love, the board is bigger. Let's borrow that from your father." She looked at Sheldon cheekily.

Sheldon gazed at his wife in amusement and slight irritation. Pushing himself up the bed, he whispered under his breath, "How did I not think of that?"

Amy walked into their closet and picked a board from Sheldon's collection. She gave it to Isaac, who's clearly excited about the idea of drawing, and watched as Sheldon stared at them blankly.

"Good thing I walked in on you before Isaac filled your stomach with drawings." Amy looked at bare skin that was peeking from Sheldon's shirt. She hissed playfully as she saw that Isaac really did a number on him.

Sheldon just sighed and pulled his shirt down. He'd have to take a bath in a few minutes or else the ink would be harder to scrub off. Taking his mind off the drawings, he turned to his wife. "How's your lunch with the girls?"

"Fun!" She exclaimed but lowered her voice when Elliot stretched in his bassinet. "We talked for 3 straight hours. And drank some screwdriver."

"I'm glad you enjoyed your day. I hoped you didn't drink too much."

"Only mocktails, they did the real drinking." How was everything? I reckon Isaac's in an artistic kick?"

"You tell me. Right when he woke up, knocked on our door and demanded to 'work' with me, even stirred his brother awake. Don't worry, I already gave him his 2 P.M. bottle."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you so much," Amy said, removing her dress and slipping on an oversized shirt.

"You are very much welcome. He won't be up for another hour, you can still take a nap."

Amy smiled and patted Sheldon's shoulder. "I took home some blueberry scones for you and Isaac. Thanks again."

* * *

_**May 11, 2022** _

_Beep. Beep. Beep._

"Hi. How's everything?" Amy inquired in a hushed manner. She crossed her arm and leaned on the wall, phone in ear.

"Isaac's asleep," Sheldon replied, watching as the dextrose dripped slowly toward Isaac's hand. "Sometimes, I wish my child isn't as stubborn as I am," he moaned, laying down on the diminutive couch.

"Sheldon," Amy chided, "don't say that. You're not that stubborn."

"Agree to disagree," he said in jest, though the sadness was in his voice. "I hope you're here with us."

"Me too. As much as I want to take care of Isaac, Elliot's keeping me great company." Amy peeked at their baby, only three months, and yet he's plump and irresistible to cuddle. "Don't worry, my parents are driving here first thing tomorrow. Mom and I might drop by, but I need to stay the night here. I don't want to tire Dad with Elliot's night feedings"

"I feel bad for not being there for our wedding anniversary tomorrow." Sheldon flattened his hair in frustration, sighing. "But I feel worse thinking about it while my son's admitted in here."

Amy sighed. "Sheldon, I feel bad, too, but don't beat yourself up. Our little boy will recover just in time and we can spend time together—all of us. I'll bring you my anniversary gift tomorrow; this year's theme is fruits or flowers."

Sheldon chuckled. "Just the right timing. Isaac gets the fruits, I'll have the flowers and maybe strawberries for me."

She grinned even though Sheldon couldn't see it. "You and your sweet tooth."

"My gifts for you are somewhere in the house, but I will only tell you where it is once the flowers arrive."

Smiling at Sheldon's sweet gesture, Amy swayed her head "Okay, I love you. Kiss Isaac for me, please."

Sheldon whimpered. "I will. You, too, and Elliot. Bye."

* * *

_**June 19, 2022** _

"Hmm, that's . . . wow."

"How come you're particularly vocal this time?"

"It's just so good. Can I have some more, Love?"

"Really? I don't think I can do more."

"Pretty please."

"I just have to rest for a few minutes."

Amy chewed on the last piece she was holding. There were still a few slices of sourdough bread lying innocently on the plate but she couldn't, for the life of her, stop munching on it. "Oh, you know what, I have a hankering for coffee," she quickly thought, shooting her husband with a pleading look.

"Just half of my coffee mug," Amy continued. Although a hint of scowl was on his face, he was already on the move waiting for the kettle to boil.

Pour-over kettle. Amy suddenly developed a fascination for coffee. She doesn't drink every day, as Elliot has been having the time of his life breastfeeding from her, but between her two pregnancies, Sheldon suddenly discovered the subtle changes in their then-kitchen. First, a sudden appearance of fresh ground coffee packets. Second, a ceramic funnel, with no other context of its usage, whatsoever. Third, a small glass carafe. And finally, a stainless steel kettle, with a long, narrow, curvy neck that looked like a thin snake.

Sheldon watched as the power clicked off and waited for 30 seconds. Carrying the hot kettle with caution, he brought it over to the counter where Amy waited with her sourdough bread and the prepared set up for his show: paper coffee filter in a funnel atop the glass carafe all in the center of a kitchen scale

Tipping the kettle, Sheldon rinsed the filter with hot water, steam covering the body of the glass underneath. He then discarded the water and scooped the coffee grounds into the filter, making sure he got the right measurement. He streamed hot water over the grounds and waited for it to bloom. The aroma was enticing enough just as the black elixir dripped below. After waiting, he poured the water in a circular and controlled manner, trusting his instinct on when to stop.

Amy watched in comfortable awe. Rarely does she see her husband do the process for her, let alone be very enthusiastic about it. He watches when she does it in the past, occasionally asking questions, mainly about the science behind the technique.

What once a tradition was demoted into something they do in their spare time. Their Sunday morning, very early morning, both of them up at the crack of dawn (Amy heard her husband's making his specialty, and Sheldon because an hour of quiet a day makes him function more as a father and a physicist.)

Sheldon carefully poured the dark concoction onto Amy's mug and slid it over to her. Amy mixed milk and agave on her coffee like an expert, observing the dark liquid turn a tad lighter and sweeter. She raised it to her nose, closing her eyes as she inhaled the smell in gusto, and sipped from it, popping her lips together and moaning.

"Don't get too attached to the coffee," Sheldon joked but Amy's too enchanted by the smell to respond to her husband.

Curious, he watched his wife having an affair with the coffee. Sheldon laughed internally at the little things that make her happy. He rounded the counter and sat on one of the stools. With Amy still basking in the morning light and the hot coffee, Sheldon pressed his lips on her forehead, grinning once Amy opened her eyes.

"Thank you," she said, putting the cup down and giving her husband a sweet, coffee-laden kiss.

"You are most certainly welcome," Sheldon replied. He hates coffee, the very taste of it repulsed him. But he loves it when Amy kisses him, so any other way, he has learned to love coffee. "Regarding your intention to scarf down the bread, I will be baking another one for next weekend. Until then, you have to share the bread because our firstborn is an equally destructive bread monster, and your husband is hungry and ditched today's pancakes for a hot piece of buttered bread."

Amy nodded but was still disappointed. She finished her coffee as Sheldon buttered his bread and scarfed it down in seconds.

"Oh, Sheldon, by the way." Amy stood up and pushed herself between his legs. The look of admiration on her face made Sheldon's heart flutter. She kissed him longer and softer than the first one. He wrapped his arms around her waist and bent her slightly. "Happy Father's Day. I love you. And I'm sure the boys do too."

* * *

_**August 7, 2022 7:00 a.m.** _

"GOSH GOLLY, AMY, I AM DYING!" Sheldon's bellow echoed inside.

Amy caressed his head and assured, "No, Sheldon, you're not."

Sheldon groaned loudly before banging his palm on the gurney. "HOW CAN YOU BE SO SURE?"

"Just because we're in an ambulance, doesn't mean that you're dying," she whispered in a soft voice. Amy looked at the paramedic and offered her an apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry about this."

The paramedic waved her hand and offered a smile back. "No problem at all. This is quite normal with people experiencing pain."

Early morning and Amy woke up to a deep voice groaning. She thought Elliot had woken up and needed his milk, but when she looked at her side, Sheldon was twisting in pain, muffling his shouts on the pillow. Quickly, she rose up in a panic upon hearing Sheldon's request: "Bring me to the hospital!"

She knew that her husband is a bit of a drama queen, but if Sheldon Cooper tells you to bring him to the hospital, as he is writhing in pain, you bring him to the hospital.

Without missing a beat, Amy pounded on the guest room, as her parents were staying the weekend, and told them to look after the kids. Her plan was to drive to the hospital, but as her father saw how distraught and groggy she was, he called an ambulance instead.

"Based on how he's curling up and clutching his abdomen, it may have something to do with his lower GI, maybe his kidneys," the woman explained, holding a clipboard. "Did he already have an appendectomy?"

"When he was younger, yes," Amy responded

"We can rule that out." The paramedic's composure was contagious, making Amy relax. "Any symptoms before the abdominal pain?"

Amy looked at the woman with hesitation. She then gazed down at her husband. There was never a talk about how he was feeling physically. She never knew what triggered this pain, but Amy had a hunch that he felt the pain as he was freshening up that morning; Sheldon had that minty breath as he was shouting.

The paramedic turned her attention to Sheldon's curled body. "Sheldon, Is it painful to urinate?"

Sheldon moved his head ambiguously, nodding and shaking in different directions.

"Is your urine pinkish in color?" she asked once again, attempting to figure out his symptoms.

Sheldon groaned and cried, "I don't know! This is killing me!"

Amy noticed how Sheldon curled more to his left side, pushing the heel of his palm into his waist to stop the pain. Even if it was appendicitis, Sheldon's clutching on the wrong side. Amy brought her tired eyes upon the paramedic. She seemed to notice it, too, writing mental notes.

Amy turned her attention back to her husband as they were pulling into the emergency room. "There's a high chance that this has something to do with your kidneys, Sheldon."

Finally exhausted, Sheldon just plopped with his back down on the gurney, as though he accepted his fate that pain will be upon him."You tell me!"

_**August 7, 2022 2:00 p.m.** _

Amy walked inside Sheldon's recovery room. Watching him open his eyes and held his right thumb up, made her chuckle.

"Amy, I'm alive," he said groggily.

"Yes, you are. How are you feeling?" Amy said as she sat down beside his bed.

Sheldon lifted his hip off the bed and winced even before going down. "I feel sore, very sore."

"That'll pass, Love." She reached for his hand and felt its warm presence.

"I wonder if this is similar to giving birth."

Amy cocked her head and thought for a while. "I never had a kidney stone but that's probably the closest you'll ever be to giving birth."

"I thought so, too." Sheldon nodded his head. His eyes widened a bit and looked for something. "Where are my babies?"

Upon hearing his weird question, she furrowed her forehead and opened her mouth slightly. A grin slowly formed into her lips and she exclaimed, "They were disintegrated into dust!"

"Aww, not them!" Being a good sport, Sheldon smacked his thigh, which seemed a very bad idea since his sore groin was nudged. Snickering together, Sheldon cupped his crotch as Amy continued to make him laugh. Their laughs waned as Amy realized how painful it was for Sheldon to laugh right after his emergency ureteroscopy. He wiped the tears on his face and breathed deeply. "Where are my real children?"

Amy smiled at Sheldon's demeanor. "At home. It was good timing that Mom and Dad are there, or else, I would have no choice but to bring Isaac and Elliot here with me."

Sheldon grimaced. "They can't go to the hospital; they're too young."

Amy nodded, observing Sheldon closing and opening his eyes slowly. If Sheldon was sane enough, he would definitely freakout to have been drugged. But having him in this cool and relaxed behavior reassured Amy.

Amy leaned her arm onto the bed. "Was this your first ambulance ride?"

Sheldon's mouth formed into an _O_ as he realized what happened. "You're right, we rode the ambulance."

She nodded, listening to his realization.

"I don't know. I know one thing's for sure: this wasn't the first time they removed something from my body," he answered proudly.

"Your appendix?"

He whimpered in defeat. "Darn, you got me . . ."

"They probably might discharge you later. And my parents kindly offered to take the kids until Tuesday. We're taking the sick leave tomorrow."

"No, it's alright. Don't let me hinder your dreams."

Amy grinned at her silly husband. "I'm only taking tomorrow off. The rest of the week, I'll definitely go back to work."

Sheldon jerked his head in shock. "And you'll leave me to fend for myself?"

"Not without Isaac and Elliot."

"I miss them already."

"We'll go home soon."

* * *

_**September 2, 2022** _

"Hey, Handsome!" Amy called, jogging to reach him. "Who are you nominating?" she whispered as they carried on walking.

Sheldon gasped and stopped on his tracks. "Good grief, Amy! That's confidential!" he said with gritted teeth. "The Academy has never disclosed nominations prior to 50 years ago and I assume if I were to tell you, that would breach the protocol."

Oblivious of her husband twitching, Amy continued, "I'm hearing about that promising discovery in superconductivity . . . you know from Germany and Japan." She linked her arm on his. "But this quantum entanglement is very intriguing." Sheldon let out a slight whimper. "And Love, we're also allowed to nominate for Chemistry, right? Ooh, don't tell anyone but the Academy might allow me to nominate for Physiology."

"Argghhh! Amy, stop that!" He covered his ears and shut his eyes. Hearing about Amy's choices to her being able to nominate for Physiology, even though Physics Nobel Laureates can only nominate for Physics and Chemistry, were too much for Sheldon's poor ability to keep a secret.

"What? Why? Is there an official rule that your spouse isn't allowed to know, even if she's a Nobel Laureate, too? Didn't Pierre tell Marie who he nominated? I'm sure he must have, and Marie, too!" Amy's having fun teasing her husband, especially at work.

"This isn't a watercooler topic, Amy," he stressed. Looking back at the recent meeting they had with the other eligible nominators, it definitely is not a watercooler topic.

"I know but I won't tell other people, that's the beauty of it. You got special treatment, Doctor." Amy winked at the reddening Sheldon.

"Doctor Fowler, I'll try to forget everything you've said to me about the nominations. The deadline won't be until the end of January, so that gives you a lot of time to rethink your nominations." Sheldon grasped her hand and continued walking. "And, oh, please don't tell me who you'll nominate, Love."

* * *

_**December 17, 2022**_

"Oh, God!" Amy moaned as she clasped her hands on Sheldon's waist and leaned back in pleasure.

"Amy, are you okay?" he asked in concern, slipping out of his bliss.

"Yes," she replied, dropping her spent body on Sheldon.

Sheldon ran his palms across Amy's spine, stopping at her lower back before flipping them over.

Amy watched Sheldon with hooded eyes. She drew his head down and muffled her moans with a kiss.

As much as she liked being on top and in control, their current position is an unspoken covenant that both of them loved the most. Amy admired her husband's face contorting in pleasure as their bodies meld in sync, not ceasing until they reach their destination.

Sheldon thought in delight at the things they do to each other. How a simple look leads to something profound. How a light touch gets heated in mere seconds. How one word rattles their inside into a release.

Breathing deeply overhead, Amy pulled Sheldon's face and touched her lips on him lightly, breaking it off without things escalating. She stared at him in admiration, still connected together, before Sheldon slipped out and rolled on his back, bringing her on his chest.

The things they do to each other never fades as they and their relationship grow older.

Sheldon gazed back into her eyes. Not one word was uttered, not one movement spared. Everything is anticipated until exhaustion can't be bear.

* * *

_**February 2, 2023** _

"Happy birthday dear, Elliot . . . Happy birthday to you." Everyone ended their song joyfully, followed by clapping of hands and cheers.

Sheldon gazed down on his son whose hold to his neck was tight. "Why are you so somber, son?" He caressed his back. "Are you still sleepy?"

"Our birthday boy just woke up, but we will still celebrate." Amy initiated the merrymaking. The background music playing, courtesy of DJ/party planner Rajesh, and the birthday party commenced with food and drinks.

After a few party games, both for the kids and the adult, the guests went on to socialize with each other. Amy met with the kids and parents Sheldon befriended on their weekly park visits. A small start to his social interactions.

An hour in, and Amy's hanging around the pergola, watching the ruckus of the afternoon ensue. Sheldon's trailing behind their wobbly one-year-old, as other kids ran around the backyard. His arms akimbo, never letting their son out of his sight. Isaac, who was preoccupied with playing with the Wolowitz's kids and Abigail, Leonard and Penny's daughter, came dashing for his father. He gazed behind and watched in amusement as his brother can barely step a foot without pausing for a second, gaining his balance, very unusual to see with big kids and similar-age kids around.

The sun was setting down when the party ended. Goodbyes were exchanged, the cleanup crew—mainly Sheldon and Amy, in addition to the in-laws—gradually tidied up. Only the gang stuck around, the Coopers not minding if their friends stayed longer, or even stayed for the night; they always had a spare bedroom in the basement.

"Question?" Amy muttered while looking out at the distance. "Is it wrong to wish for another baby?"

Silent warbles were released. "Ooh, are you and Sheldon trying?" Penny and Bernie leaned in to gather the current scoop.

"No, not really. But maybe someday."

"Howie and I kinda thought about it. But you know, he already got his tubes snipped." Bernie laughed about the matter.

"He can have them reversed," Amy suggested nonchalantly, aware of the science of vasectomies because, at one point, she considered talking Sheldon into it.

Bernie scoffed. "Yeah, right. That man's pain tolerance is literally on the seafloor!"

"Well, if you put it like that." Amy agreed as Bernie nodded.

"Did you tell Sheldon about it?"

As though keeping a secret, Amy disclosed, "He brought up the idea."

Penny was taken aback. "Wow, really? Sheldon's really different, huh."

"Oh, don't! He just wanted our children to be divisible by 3. Before we decided to get pregnant, he told me he wanted 15 children. 15!" Amy extended her free hand to justify the absurdity of Sheldon's initial idea.

"Oof, that's crazy," Penny whispered.

"I said 1 is fine, but he really wanted to be divisible by 3, so I agreed with 3. I should have expected how fertile my husband is. We now have 2." Amy blushed and whispered, "I kinda want another one."

Penny and Bernie stared at each other in disbelief.

"Your kids are heaven, Ames. Halley and Neil were rowdy at that age."

Amy gazed at the soft mayhem ensuing in their backyard. With Sheldon already sitting down on the grass and Elliot perched on his lap, Isaac began doing silly actions, draining all of his energy to put up a show for his brother and father.

"Elliot's showing off his cheeky side lately." She laughed as Elliot squirmed out of Sheldon grip, but not without Sheldon doing his best not to let go of the intrepid infant. "Sheldon and I should prepare for what's to come."

Amy could see the amused looks of her friends. If Sheldon is a great partner, he made an even better father.

Penny squealed, "Imagine if you have a girl!"

"He'll be head over heels," Amy replied in an instant.

"Aww, Sheldon makes a very adorable father," Bernie cooed when Sheldon swooped Isaac off his feet, carried both kids on his arms, and ran around in circles.

"Adorable father and a generous husband—what more can I say?"


	6. Chapter 6

**Progeny 3.1: May 2023 – November 2023**

* * *

_**May 13, 2023 6:15 a.m.** _

The feel of each other's skin brought a surge of familiarity. The softness of the mattress also brought the same. Although, the silence and puniness of the place didn't. No children, more wildlife. Barely a phone signal, yet the place was teeming with trees.

Amy slowly broke off the kiss, cupping Sheldon's cheeks on her hands.

"Why did we light the fireplace? It's the middle of May," Sheldon heaved. The lower half of his body was heating up from the fireplace near the foot of their bed.

Amy grinned and tightened her hold around his nape. "It's romantic, Sheldon."

"I regret lighting it up," he groaned

"Aww, is your tushie getting toasted? We're in the heart of Sierra Nevada, how come you're getting hot?" Amy said smugly. She's lucky Sheldon's practically absorbing all the heat from the fireplace.

"Shush . . ." Sheldon answered irritably. With a fake frown on his face, he said, "You are making me irate, Amy."

Amy cocked her head, moving closer to Sheldon. "Am I? Should I just let you finish on your own then?"

"You can't possibly leave, you're trapped." He scoffed, moving his arms that were supporting his body closer to Amy, rendering her imprisoned on their bed.

"I'm quite flexible now. I can escape from your hold!" Amy announced, delighted as she chuckled, but Sheldon tightened his hold.

"No one can escape from me! I am the epitome of strength!"

Suddenly, Amy snaked her hand down to Sheldon's briefs, grasped his crotch, and squeezed it lightly.

"Oww, why did you squeeze my groin?" Sheldon yelped, hunching his body more.

Amy continued chuckling at the face and the sound Sheldon made. "I thought you're the epitome of strength?" She pounded on his chest lightly, reddening from laughing too hard.

After the initial shock, Sheldon joined her guffaws and muttered breathlessly, "Apparently, the epitome of strength possesses weaknesses, too."

_**May 13, 2023 9:00 a.m.** _

"Do you know that married couples, or even cohabitating couples, gain weight once they start living with each other?" Sheldon said after shoving a mouthful of hashbrowns, still hot from the toaster oven.

Amy looked at him, amused. "Is that why you're getting a little plump?"

"Plump? I'm not plump," he said defensively, after taking a bite of his sausage and egg sandwich. "Fine, maybe just a little."

"In my defense, I gained close to 65 pounds while pregnant with the boys, so your theory isn't so far from reality."

"Well, your weight gain was crucial to support the life you were carrying. Mine was crucial to gain access to the club of gentlemen who don the infamous _'dad bod,'_ as they would say it."

"But your dad bod is adorable," Amy cooed at her husband. Sheldon is adorable, so is his unabashed body that bordered the said physique. She'd never mentioned any of that, mainly because she has little to no interest in what goes on Sheldon's physical appearance. All she wanted was for him to take care of himself.

Sheldon dropped his breakfast back on the plate, leaned against the metal garden chair, and crossed his arms. "Don't fret. We'll be making love this weekend like a bunch of rabbits, you wouldn't dare to call me plump," he proudly announced.

Amy nodded at his conclusion, not much impressed but because what Sheldon said sounded like a challenge. "Running burns calories more than sex."

Sheldon slumped his shoulders. "That's unfair. Sex is my only form of exercise. You have yoga and that treadmill at home. How am I supposed to keep up with that?"

Amy looked away to think. Sure Sheldon has had means to exert effort. Maybe because he doesn't consider them as exercises in the first place. "We both do chores and take care of toddlers. I think those would be considered as exercise."

Out of nowhere, their lighthearted talk about exercise shifted into a gloomy course. Sheldon's lips dropped into a frown. His back hunched slightly. His eyes averted from his wife. Soon enough, Amy noticed him look back at her. "I promise, I will do better."

The sentence hurt her more than it should. "Don't say that, Sheldon Cooper," she wholeheartedly said. She'd berate herself for giving her husband the benefit of the doubt, but really, there is nothing to improve. After watching him grow throughout their relationship, his present self is his peak, and right now, Sheldon is at his peak. She wanted him to do things to improve himself, not because his wife nagged him into doing it.

To keep things light, Amy grinned before saying in jest, "Haven't you noticed how flexible I am lately? If only you did yoga with me, you would be the king of sex!"

"I am the king of sex," Sheldon defended with honor. "But your right. I'll do yoga with you so we can have a Cirque du Soleil-esque coitus. Ain't that nice?" He genuinely suggested, as though they'd get that level of flexibility at their age.

Amy nodded once, but having a much believable idea, she recommended, "Or, once arrive we home, we can have a nice dinner with the kids, wake up in the morning and do yoga, and make passionate love on a Friday evening."

Sheldon listened and agreed to her proposal. Even though Amy's assurance about the matter was headstrong, Sheldon couldn't help but think about how their balance had been always veering toward Amy. She had been the producer of wise insights, the giver of necessities, the patron of small surprises for him and the kids. It was all Amy. How about him? What's his purpose, then?

"Amy," he began, "can I ask you a question?" still hesitating.

"Go on."

"How can I . . . show you my gratefulness?"

"There's always that classic 'thank you'," she answered, not making a big deal out of his question.

"I want to _show_ how thankful I am. How would I do that?" Sheldon put his cup on the table as he wanted to give her all attention. "And before you say anything, I genuinely want to do something for you."

Amy cooed and listened thoughtfully. "Sheldon, we're having our anniversary weekend . . . just the two of us. I can already feel your gratefulness toward me just by spending time together."

"I'm aware where you're coming from, but, as you said, it's our anniversary, celebrating and spending time together are automatic for couples," said Sheldon, which made Amy nod. "I want to show how thankful I am, not by the social construct that surrounds special occasions, but because of what my inner self tells me to do."

Touched by his gesture, Amy lent her ears to her husband, thinking of a few gestures that would suffice her. "You can cook for me."

Sheldon smiled, listening intently at what she had to say.

"I have nothing to say about flowers, sometimes I like it, sometimes they're just a bit inconvenient. I love books, though; maybe when we go back to Pasadena, you can bring me to the library, spend the afternoon browsing the shelves, come home with a borrowed book or two." Amy's face lit up as she recalled her love for books.

Sheldon clasped his hands together. "What else would you like?"

Amy clicked her tongue and grinned. "A massage."

"I will get into that," he said, mid-standing, but Amy was much faster to stop him.

"Not right now." She smiled apologetically. As much as she would love a massage, it clearly wouldn't work while the sun's overhead.

"I want to see you wear some clothes," Amy continued.

Sheldon raised his eyebrows. Usually, Amy likes him undress. Hearing her say that she likes to see him wear clothes weirded Sheldon out. Does my body look horrible that she wants to cover it all up? He stared in confusion as to the connotation of her sentence.

"What I meant was: I'd like to see you try on some clothes. You know, like when the girls and I go shopping, and we fit clothes and let each other see it. Now, I won't force you to try clothes that you don't like, but I'd like to see you try clothes that are up your alley and see your face light up." As soon as Amy said that, her face brightened up. "You'd look great fitting some suits."

"Done," Sheldon said resolutely, tapping his finger on the table.

"We can always talk; that's what we're good at right?"

"Of course," he answered. "I truly appreciate everything that you've done. To say thank you may not be enough, but once we're back in Pasadena, expect me to show you my gratitude by doing things that you'd like me to do for you. And that's a promise."

* * *

_**May 27, 2023** _

"Amy, I am a good friend, a better husband, and the best father, and that is why I will support your decision." Sheldon stood up and held her hand, asking her to stand up with him.

Amy patted his chest and smiled gratefully. After a full Saturday of staying down at their office while Sheldon held the fort upstairs, it was pleasant to have her mind off her work for a while.

"But seriously, Amy. I'm going to miss you . . . we're going to miss you." He hugged her so tight she needed a large inhale afterward.

"I will miss my boys, too." And suddenly, she felt glum, gazing outside their properly lit backyard. "It's only for 45 days."

Sheldon sighed in defeat. "45 days—that is how long I left you while I traveled across the country."

"Well this time, I'll just be in San Diego," Amy reassured, feeling her husband's hand caress her lower back.

Sheldon pulled away and groaned. "I just hope I don't lose my marbles taking care of those gremlins," he said in jest, hiding his grin.

"Gremlins!" She chuckled weakly at the name Sheldon had called their sons. "I doubt you will, you did a really great job of keeping your friends in line."

"Phew, thanks. I thought I didn't have it in me." Sheldon's quips definitely tickled her funny bone. "Why can't I just teach you physics?"

"You can, but you don't have sufficient background in neuroscience." Amy shrugged. "It's not about you. Their center for computational neuroscience and neurophysics housed the best and the brightest in the field. I dabbled with it when we were working with that consciousness experiment and grad school, but you know that's not my specialty and these people have years under their belt. "

Sheldon's eyes lit up at the opportunity. "Can I go with you?"

Amy smoothed his shirt and asked, "Do you have the clearance from Caltech?"

He shook his head timidly.

"Do you have the clearance from our children?"

Defeated, he shook his head once more. Amy noticed how persistent Sheldon was, his shoulders slumping at every rejection, but she knew this would be an ephemeral reaction.

"If I could I would drive home every day but that's too much work for me." She patted Sheldon's cheek as he flashed a small smile—the one where his lips crook unevenly as he tried to claw back from a defeat.

"We'll visit you there."

"Of course you will. And I'll go home on the weekends."

Sheldon sighed deeply. "So this is our life now?"

"Just for 45 days. Your visiting researcher will be back home in no time."

"I can't wait for you to kick their asses!" he bellowed, punching the air in excitement.

Chuckling, Amy held him before he got too excited. "No ass-kicking. Just research and lectures, Love."

"It was a metaphorical ass-kicking," he said glumly, but soon recovered his energy.

"I appreciate the moral support. I'm tired, let's go to bed."

* * *

_**July 14, 2023 — 9:00 p.m.** _

"No, Sheldon. Listen to me," Amy said resolutely. "It's just for another 15 days. What seems to be the problem with that?"

"The problem is that you only promised 45 days!" It was evident from his tone that Sheldon was getting agitated about their conversation

"That's not a problem after all. I simply need to conform to their wishes and stay here for another 15 days."

Amy was aware of Sheldon not being pleased about the decision, but she wasn't expecting this kind of outburst.

"It's not that easy, Amy. Our agreement was for you to stay for 45 days! Not 60!"

"Agreement? I merely agreed to it! There was never an official agreement!" She couldn't help but raise her voice. Sheldon's tone was rubbing off on her, and the night was not treating her any good, either.

"Oh, trust me, there was an agreement! And you're supposed to abide by the agreement!"

Amy inhaled like she was about to explode. "You know what, Sheldon? You win. Right, you win! Fine! There was an agreement, okay! Can you just drop it? For the love of God, please just shut your mouth! Please!"

What was supposed to be a quick 15-minute catch-up call, turned into a heated argument between the couple. They just hope the kids were asleep and never heard the fight. It was agreed upon that petty and minor fights they have, they would resolve it in front of the kids. This appeared to be larger than they expected it to.

There was silence between the lines, as though a needle had been dropped. Both breathing heavily, no one talked for a long time.

When she couldn't tolerate the silence anymore. Amy said, "I'm sorry, I'm tired. I have to go." She dropped the call and placed the phone on the nightstand with a thud.

_**July 15, 2023 – 6 a.m.** _

Amy's disheveled short hair mostly covered her face. She didn't have time to fix herself; the only thing her mind thought was to grab her robe, find out who's disturbing her at this ungodly hour, and call security to escort them outside. "Coming!" she replied, slightly irritated. Her bare feet skidded across the hardwood floor of her apartment as she pushed away the hair covering her face.

Still groggy from being woken up, she swung open the door without even thinking about the person on the other side. "Sheldon!" she shrieked in surprise, enough to jolt her husband.

"Good morning," he greeted timidly, clutching a paper bag in his left hand and two paper coffee cups in the other. "Can I come in?"

"Sure, sure, come in." Amy moved the way hastily, making room for her husband to enter.

She watched as he navigated through her studio-type apartment. The last time he'd stayed in the apartment, the couch was his cove, as Isaac and Elliot got to sleep with Amy on the bed. It was a rather unpleasant experience, for the couch contorted his middle-aged body, but being with his family alleviated his woes.

"I am deeply sorry for what I said last night," Sheldon began as he sat at the dining table from across Amy.

Amy sighed, as though the weight lifted off her chest. "I'm sorry, too," she apologized in return.

Sheldon's face softened. He might not look his best that very morning but at least the stress creeping up has lifted, only to be renewed by calmness. "You were right, Amy, there was no agreement. I just wanted you to believe that there was so that you get to come home."

Amy realized the motivation. "I understand where this is coming from, but it's only 15 days, Sheldon. I'm just a 2-hour drive away, and I would never agree to it if I were in a different state. Trust me, I only did it because it's just San Diego," she explained. She watched how crestfallen Sheldon was when he heard that her stay would be extended for 15 days.

He moaned, still disappointed. "I know that. Your presence in the house is greatly missed, however. Elliot's been crawling on my chest and squeezing my nonexistent breast just out of spite! Like he knew that you would be staying longer and punishes me for allowing you."

Amy breathed out a chuckle at her husband's anecdotes. Oh, how she missed those kids badly. It was a relief to have lived in an era where communication is flawless. Her nightly video calls, albeit short, with her family was enough to fill the void. But nothing is comparable to seeing them in flesh.

"And Isaac's been sliding across the floor on his stomach!" Sheldon continued his story with a certain fatherly charm. "Can you believe that boy!"

Amy's cheeks hurt from smiling. She watched in awe. "Where are they now?"

"At home. With Raj. Your parents might have been there already." Sheldon started unpacking what he brought. First, removing the cups from the holder, then retrieving the food from the bag.

"It's still early. What time did you leave the house?" Amy asked, accepting the cup.

"Around 4. Sticky buns?" He offered, in which Amy declined and chose the chicken turnover instead.

"I'm supposed to drive back home today."

Sheldon sighed. "I didn't know if you will, considering the words that were uttered last night. I wanted to talk to you before chaos ensues at home. I hope you didn't mind."

Amy nodded at Sheldon's explanation.

"You didn't complain when I had to stay another three days in Milwaukee," Sheldon retold.

"There was a snowstorm. Force majeure is always exempted." Just like any other reaction, Amy was the most sensible and considerate person he knew.

"You do not complain when I sometimes have to take the kids for their check-ups."

"On the contrary, I was very thankful." Relief etched on her face. Sharing the parenting duty was something she was excited about.

"And even though I still carry the guilt of what happened, you never got angry at me for not noticing your difficulties when Isaac was a newborn."

Amy softened at that sweet admission. Her man was the most honest person in her life. If he were cheating, she'd probably know about it, and Sheldon would probably be the first one to fold. "It only happened once. You were very attentive afterward," said Amy, grateful for her partner who barely knew something about other people, yet can read his wife and children so seamlessly.

Sheldon puffed his chest and exhaled. "It may not be enough, but I was not in the right to dictate something that you should've done, not especially about your career."

Amy nodded and reached for his hand. "I'm sorry I raised my voice." She brought it to her lips and smiled. "Everything is forgiven, alright? May this be a learning opportunity for us."

* * *

_**August 13, 2023** _

"Again?!" The high-pitched voices bellowed inside the Wolowitz's residence. Backed up with confused and shocked faces, Amy stared at her friends in admiration.

"Howie! Sheldon beat you!" Bernie yelled from the dining table to the living room.

"Bernie, I know!" Howard shouted a muffled one. Despite being separated by the thin wall and a swing door, he managed to respond. "And we won't be beaten again! Right, Raj?!" he followed up after Raj's shrill cry that echoed next door.

The girls looked at each other in disbelief. Tailing after one another, they barged into the living room to the sight of middle-aged men deeply engrossed in their video game. They couldn't blame them, having their own families makes it even harder to get together.

Bernie slapped Howard's shoulder. He yelped in pain as the game ended.

"Bernie's talking about how Sheldon and I are pregnant again." Amy smiled softly at her friends. Their faces lit up, and she and Sheldon were bombarded with greetings—how they were elated about another addition to the group—and warnings—how chaotic it would be to have 3 children under the age of 5.

"That was fast. Was being away for two months made you so horny, Sheldon" Howard asked Sheldon as he elbowed his rib.

Sheldon hissed softly. "We conceived before Amy went to San Diego."

"It seems like the idea of being separated made you horny so you took every chance to shack up," Howard added.

Sheldon glared at Howard and held his wife's hand. "It sounds disgusting when you put it like that."

Amy squeezed back Sheldon's hand and beamed at her friends. "It's between our anniversary weekend and the day before I took off."

Raj returned Amy's smile and teased, "It looks like you had a great, great time at Tahoe, huh?"

"Yeah! And we visited the Donner Lake, too," Sheldon mentioned rather energetically, gleaning a collection of groans and spews of disapproval.

"And . . . we're done!" Leonard stood up and clasped his hands together. He smiled at the expecting couple and laid out his hand. "Congratulations, Amy. Another one, huh?"

"I helped, too!" Sheldon moaned. He frowned and looked at Leonard in disdain.

". . . and Sheldon! Congratulations."

"Now it's Howie's turn to be godfather," Bernie declared.

Sheldon and Amy looked at each other, aware of what they've caused.

Howard puffed his chest and stood up. He rested his hand on his chest and curtsied. "It is my honor, Cooper and Fowler."

* * *

_**September 24, 2023** _

Sheldon had been in deep worry about his wife. He woke up feeling energized, after having a week of recuperating from his vasectomy, only to discover that Amy was experiencing a low-grade fever when he tried to embrace her.

He quickly rose to his feet, feeling his scrotum twitch at the sudden movement, and strapped on his thinking cap. Retrieving the thermometer inside their bedroom first aid kit, Sheldon nudged Amy a little bit, to which she just hissed and pushed him away.

"Oh no, Amy, you're hot! Please, let me take your temperature," he pleaded.

Amy opened her eyes and said, "I already did, Sheldon. There's no reason to worry. I already called my doctor, and he told me to record my temperature every hour and take Tylenol."

He dropped his hands. "And you've been doing that?"

"While you were sleeping, yes."

Sheldon let out an exhale and wore his game face. "Can you tell me the highest temperature that you noted?" he asked, swiping a pen and a notepad on their nightstand.

"100.2," she answered in a whisper.

"And how long ago did you take that Tylenol?"

"About an hour ago." This time, Amy sniffled and groaned as she moved around the bed.

"I'm bringing you to the hospital," Sheldon said resolutely, capping the pen and dressed in a hurry. In his mind, there is no reason to risk the fever Amy is experiencing. He just doesn't want anything to happen to his wife, knowing how delicate pregnant women are when it comes to illnesses.

"Sheldon, that won't be necessary," Amy responded. "If my temperature reaches 100.5, then you can take me to the hospital."

"Are you sure?" Sheldon sat on her side of the bed, caressing her lower back.

"Yes." Amy gazed at him with her weary eyes. She reached for his hand and held it to her chest. "I just need to rest and drink a lot of water. I hope you don't mind taking over the reins for the whole day."

"Promise that you will tell me if anything doesn't feel right?" he whispered, still couldn't hide the worry on his face.

"I promise."

"If you need anything, please tell me."

"I will."

Sheldon sighed as Amy loosened her hold on his hand. He looked at their clock and worried about the kids. Having taught Isaac how to read a clock, Sheldon was certain that anytime soon, the little boy will be talking on their baby monitor if he didn't fetch him on time.

Staring back at Amy, Sheldon asked her one more time, "Do you need anything now?"

It took a while before Amy replied. She opened one eye and smiled, "Maybe a tepid bath."

Sheldon smiled, stood up, and went to the bathroom to run Amy the bath that she needed. Upon assisting Amy in the tub, he exited the bathroom and heard the crackle of the baby monitor.

"Good morning, we're awake," Isaac said in a whisper that made Sheldon chuckle.

Sheldon opened the bedroom door on the sight of Isaac sitting by Elliot's cot, holding the baby monitor in hand. He carried them to the kitchen for their breakfast, wishing Amy wouldn't develop anything worse during the day.

* * *

_**November 25, 2023** _

"You definitely are enjoying yourself." Amy chuckled as she extended her neck to look for her husband. She can feel him press his face on her belly and chuckled on her skin.

"I can barely see you," Sheldon quipped, clutching the crest of her belly.

Amy continued using her iPad, which was conveniently perched on her belly. She moaned and warbled at what she was watching. "I have a problem," she said, turning off the device.

"What problem?" Sheldon moved away from his hideout and stared worriedly at Amy. One thing he had mastered being a family man was not to jump into conclusions and freak out.

"I seem to be experiencing an intense, massive craving." Amy frowned, and as she was saying that, both of them heard her stomach produced a deafening grumble.

"Uh-oh. Is it that tomato ketchup and watermelon combination again? You know how that messed up your bowels, Amy." Sheldon shot up. Amy's quirky food combination wreaked havoc in their toilet and bathroom sink the time she was pregnant with Elliot. Things came out from opposite sides from time to time, she had to leave from work.

"No," she sighed in relief. "I watched about this motel in south-central Utah that serves pickle pie!" Sheldon laid his head back to Amy's lap as he listened. "How cool is that, huh?!"

"Pickled pie? Amy, I'm quite an expert on pies but how the heck would you pickle one? Do you cut in chunks and soak it in brine? And what flavor pie do we pickle?" asked Sheldon, genuinely intrigued by the notion.

"It's _pickle_ pie, silly. Not pickled. The main ingredient is pickles."

"Oh, okay." Sheldon's amusement dwindled and now he has got to think rationally. He said the first thing that came to mind: "In Utah? Do you want me to drive there?"

"Do you want to drive for 8 hours straight and drive back?" Amy threw the question.

Sheldon shook his head.

"Then, we'll fly!" She said giddily, ready to hop on a plane despite the status of her pregnancy.

"Amy, we can't possibly fly to Utah just to buy a pie." Sheldon sat up once again, giving up the opportunity to nestle beside his wife's belly and feeling the light movements from the unborn child. "And we celebrated Thanksgiving two days ago. Sure, that pecan and pumpkin pie satiated you."

Amy contorted her face in something her husband will find irresistible. "But this one's different."

Sheldon sighed. Amy has a point, though. Instead of driving or flying to Utah, just to buy a pie, he can just make it from scratch. How else could he use his pie-making skills if he ignores his wife's wishes?

_**November 26, 2023** _

Amy looked at her guests in sheer anticipation. "Everyone, close your eyes!"

"What are you serving us, Amy?" Penny asked with a hint of suspicion. She yelped when she felt Sheldon wrap a handkerchief to cover her eyes. Everybody protested, too, at the quips of the Coopers.

"You'd have to take a guess. Sheldon baked this, and he needs your feedback." Amy started putting a small slice of pickle pie on each of their friends' plates.

Raj clapped his hand upon hearing that Sheldon baked something. "Oooh, pastries?"

"I don't need any feedback. That's supposed to be for Amy, but I don't want her eating that by herself," Sheldon defended as he watched his friends pick up a fork and cut a small portion of the pie. "Have you seen how much sugar I've put in their, Amy?" he berated while knotting the handkerchiefs.

He had tasted it. And it was not the best pie that he had. Maybe because he's not a fan of pickles. He doesn't hate it, nor love it, either. Pickles are pickles: they're meant to be eaten in a burger. However, Amy seemed to disagree with him.

"Why is it tangy?" Leonard made a retching sound.

"Taste like lime," said Raj, eating another piece.

"Is it something with lime?" Oddly, Bernadette was elated with what she was tasting.

"Maybe it's a key lime pie," Leonard said, now sniffing the pie.

Howard scoffed, looked at his friends even though he had a blindfold on, and schooled them. "Key lime pie? Taste more like kosher pickles!"

A few voiced their disgust, some just kept on eating.

"Are there pickles here?" Leonard almost gagged when he said the word.

"Pickle pie, courtesy of Sheldon Cooper," Amy announced as everyone removed their blindfolds. What welcomed them is a moss—more like snot—green pie with deep green specks floating in the filling.

"What the heck, Sheldon? What lunatic would put pickles in a pie?" Penny protested. She took another bite, which made her protests ironic.

"I like it, Sheldon," Bernie announced, licking every morsel stuck to the plate.

"Me too," Raj agreed, "You've got to send me the recipe."

Amy stared at her husband who was dumbfounded by the recent occurrence. Bernie and Raj liked so much they needed a second slice. Penny and Howard finished theirs just for the sake of gratefulness, and it's free food, anyway. And Leonard looked like he was going to throw up any second, covering his mouth with his napkin and looking at a distance.


	7. Chapter 7

**Progeny 3.2: January 2024 – December 2024**

* * *

_**January 1, 2024 – 2:00 a.m.** _

"Mom, you're friends with God—" Sheldon's voice cracked as he wasn't able to continue what he was about to say.

"Dear God . . ." His mother started with her prayer.

The hospital chapel was empty. He left Amy's room and found himself sitting in the front pew of the chapel. Ten minutes later, light flooded inside the dim room, and he felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked up and saw his mother. At that point, every emotion surged at him violently.

". . .May you keep our _baby girl_ safe. Guide Sheldon and Amy and give them strength as their children needed them in this time of need. Lend Your healing hands and help our baby girl so she may be with her parents." Mary ended her prayer wiping away the tears on her face.

Sheldon sniffed and drew his head down. "Oh, God! This is hurting me more than it should." His leg jittered anxiously as he memories of what happened flashed before his eyes.

"Pain and fear are part of the process, Shelly," his mother assured, holding his hand.

"I'm aware of that," he squeaked, gulping to regain his sanity. "But this is very . . . terrifying. I don't ever feel this, Mom."

"I know, Baby," Mary sympathized "You know, you and your sister came out early at 35 weeks."

"How's that suppose to help me?" He snapped at his mother's well-meaning story. Sighing, he rubbed the sweat off his forehead and said, "I'm sorry, Mom. I'm sleep-deprived and haven't eaten since yesterday. I hope you understand."

"Sheldon, I've been a parent thrice." Mary leaned back into the hardwood pew. "What you're going through is normal, especially if your child's involved."

He nodded. Recalling an event that might have caused Amy to go into premature labor, Sheldon gritted his teeth and squared his jaw. "We shouldn't have that Christmas party. We shouldn't have planned for a New Year's party. I shouldn't have gotten Amy pregnant in the first place. She's 40, and I should've acknowledged that risk."

"If you keep acting like that, your wife is gonna divorce you," Mary said frankly. "All I'm saying is this isn't a one-man job, not even a two. Y'all have your friends. Y'all have Amy's parents. Y'all have me. Your baby's gonna get through this if you believe. This hospital is better than the hospital I've given birth to. This hospital is even better than all hospitals in Galveston. Trust in them and trust in Him."

Sheldon watched as his mother pointed at the altar. Jesus Christ on the cross looking down at them inanimately. He would freak out if any of the figurines moved, but after everything that has happened in the course of three days, Jesus Christ moving wouldn't be so bad after all.

Sheldon stood up gingerly and told his mother, "Mom, I shouldn't have told Amy I wanted three kids."

"There's nothing you can do now."

"Our baby wouldn't be in danger if I had that vasectomy after Elliot."

"Your daughter wouldn't want to hear his father yappin' about how they should not have her in the first place."

"No! I want her! I love her, Mom. But I don't want her to be in this situation. This is very selfish of me!"

"I know, this is frustrating. Your daddy didn't have that many people around when you and Missy were born. He was a nervous wreck. I could only imagine what he experienced that day." Mary rubbed his back and noticed the anguished mask by his stoic face. "But, Shelly, think about this: your daughter is alive, she's breathing! Your baby is in a safe room where she's surrounded by people taking care of her, but they just cut open your wife and left her to recover. No one's hanging around her room to take care of her. Amy needs you more than anything, she needs to see you."

"I need her, too," he whispered, acknowledging the hurt.

"I can stay here for a while. Have Leonard fetch you. I'm sure he wouldn't mind. And check in on them kids. They need to see their father too."

_**January 1, 2024 – 9:00 a.m.** _

Amy roused from her sleep. She couldn't remember how many times she stirred throughout the night. Sometimes, she would cry, would look out the window, would stare at her mother-in-law on the couch. There's so much going on that things started to convolute. The illusion of day brought by a car passing. The illusion of a newborn's whimpers brought by the machines beeping beside her. The illusion of being alone brought by the cold, eerie feel of the room.

"Hello." Sheldon emerged from the door, greeting her with a docile smile.

Amy managed to smile back and let out a weak greeting. She watched in anticipation as her husband sat beside her. He couldn't keep eye contact with her. It bothered her that Sheldon was acting like that. What could have happened in the hours between she last remembered being awake and that second? What happened to their daughter? Where is she?

For the longest time, she asked, "Is _she_ fine?" After all the incising, the prodding, and the stitching the doctors made to her body, Amy could only think of one person.

The weight lifted away from her chest when Sheldon looked up to her with hope in his eyes. "Currently in NICU," he answered softly. "How do you feel, Love?" He reached for her hand and grasped it, warming it, showing her that she's not alone.

Amy severed their eye contact and stammered, "I-I'm fine." _Am I? I can be fine, I can try to be fine_. She tried not to overthink what happened but giving birth at only 33 weeks afflicted her. She was saddened, but also elated to have known that their baby is alive and fighting for her life. Her cries uplifted their three and a half days of perturbed anticipation.

Amy looked back at the 28th. Pinkish liquid started gushing down her thighs. Her first thought was incontinence. She had experienced it while pregnant with Isaac and Elliot, but it was not as heavy as what happened. She and Sheldon rushed to the hospital in no time, and sure enough, her amniotic sac ruptured prematurely.

She had to stay at the hospital teeming with fear and sadness. She couldn't keep her inside of her womb for a little more, prompting for an emergency C-section as their baby's oxygen levels dropped on the 3rd day.

Sheldon pulled her from her thoughts. "Do you want something to eat?" he asked, worried at how still his wife was.

"What did they say?" Amy looked at her husband wearily. "I wasn't listening when they entered hours ago."

"That was twenty minutes ago," said Sheldon meekly. "But that's fine. I-I'll catch you up."

He staggered a breath in, puffing his chest to gather his composure.

"Our daughter was born at 11:03 p.m. on the night of December 31st. Almost a New Year baby, but that's good so we can do her birthday celebrations in the afternoon of every 31st." He chuckled. "She weighs close to 5 pounds—4.7 to be exact. She's currently inside an incubator with a feeding tube. Once she gains a little weight the doctors will assess her."

She noticed her husband's deep-set eyes. Amy was sure Mary had him go home for a while and take a rest, but his eyes exhibited the opposite.

"Is that all?" asked Amy.

"Her respiratory system is close to developing but she still needs help. They're observing her because, at her age, she's prone to infections, and we don't want that." He dropped his head but stared at her again with renewed hope. Sheldon smiled enough to send jolts on her limp body. "I-I saw her, Amy. She's marvelous and a fighter."

"She is?"

"I haven't carried her yet but the nurse allowed me to hold her hand." He stood up and reached for her hand. "She has this blush pink color to her. And she's like a smaller newborn baby." Amy chuckled at her husband's description. "They said we can visit her later once you're ready."

* * *

 _ **January 5**_ , _**2024**_

Sheldon worried that Amy might be overdoing everything. She's looking after two toddlers. She's moving around the house. She's making calls about work and whatnot. Despite his attempts to keep her out of stressful situations, Amy was tough to suppress. He did what he could: kept an eye on Amy and took over whenever he saw her doing something that might endanger her.

Amy seemed to notice Sheldon's attentiveness. He would be the first in the kitchen during meal prep, even though he has a limited array of recipes. Mary would also provide her help, looking after the kids and giving her advice about her wound. However, all the help seemed very short-sighted for her. All Amy could think about was the condition of their newborn.

"Is your incision still painful?" Sheldon asked as they were getting ready for bed.

Amy winced. "A little bit."

"You can tell me if you need any help or if it becomes painful again," he assured her as he pulled down the comforter and sat against the headboard. Sheldon got a glimpse of his wife, curled to her side, facing the opposite from him. He heard a quiet sniffle, ignoring it after mistaking the sound. Another bout of sniffles echoed across the room, prompting him to peek at his wife's situation.

Sheldon closed the book he was reading, turned off his nightlight, and scooted down. He moved closer to Amy, enough for her to feel his presence. "Are you crying?" he whispered.

Instead of an answer, Amy reached behind her and sought out his hand. Sheldon pressed his body against her back and wrapped his arm around his waist, careful not to nudge her wound. He didn't need any response; he knew what was happening.

It took them three days to admit to themselves about the adversity faced by the whole family. Through the night, they held each other, crying with each other, telling each other that they will get through this and it wouldn't shatter their family.

Somehow in the morning, the weight they have been carrying as husband and wife, and as parents disintegrated into thin air, bringing them renewed hope to face whatever's agonizing them.

_**January 7, 2024 8:30 a.m.** _

Humming in the background were the machines connected to their daughter. Sheldon watched as a NICU nurse helped Amy carry the infant. Ever since Amy got discharged from the hospital, they didn't miss a day to visit her. Popping by her room whenever they can.

Their daughter had been recently transferred into a private NICU room after a week under tight surveillance. Of course, Sheldon knew that their daughter still has a lot of milestones to prove before she gets discharged.

This was the third time Amy held their youngest child, and every time she does, the anxiety that consumed her lessen as her small, warm frame touches her skin. Sheldon watched at how meticulously Amy cradled their daughter with all the wires connected to her frail body. On their first interaction, Sheldon didn't dare carry her, even though the nurses already gave him permission and everybody cheered for him to go. Just the thought of breaking her tiny bones frightened him and holding her hand was enough for him.

Their daughter's tiny hand touched the skin below Amy's neck as she laid on her chest. Sheldon watched in admiration as the profound connection unfolded. _Amy must have felt glorious_ , he thought. He envied this kind of connection. An initial fright when carrying Isaac and Elliot encumbered him during their early days of being alive. However, Amy seemed to have a lot of experience with babies, so when he witnessed Amy carry their daughter flawlessly, he knew he would have it in him.

"Sheldon, try carrying her," Amy said after 15 minutes.

He flashed a worried look at Amy. Standing up from the couch, he asked the nurse for the umpteenth time, still trembling, "Am I allowed to do that?"

"Of course! We can try kangaroo care, if you'd like," the nurse suggested.

Sheldon looked at his clothes. He was wearing a button-down shirt because he needed to look presentable in front of their daughter. They also went straight to the hospital that day and have been spending the better part of the morning in her room, so chances of contamination must have declined.

The nurse noticed his dilemma, giving him the option to remove his shirt and be bare or he can wear a hospital gown. He chose the gown, instead.

" _You are so beautiful,"_ was the first sentence Sheldon uttered after almost 5 minutes of their daughter on his chest.

Amy chuckled as she returned from changing her clothes. Sheldon has an affinity to talk to babies, especially their kids, in his normal voice. On certain occasions, there was baby talking, something he must've not intended to do in front of Amy, but either way, Amy finds it adorable that Sheldon is timid to employ his baby talking skills.

Hearing Amy's slight chuckle, Sheldon looked up, smiled in confusion, and asked. "What? Why are you laughing?"

Amy sat beside him and positioned her chin on his shoulder. "You two look cute together," she whispered.

"Of course, we are," Sheldon said, full of pride. He drew his face closer to her daughter's hat-covered head, grinned, and asked. "Look at us. Who does _Adeline_ look like, me or you?"

"Me," Amy scoffed without missing a beat. It's hard to tell who a newborn looks like. When Isaac and Elliot were born, she had a difficult time piecing together which of their sons' features matched with which parent. After spending too much time with the boys, she safely concluded that Isaac, proving the theory of firstborns looking like their fathers, is a spitting image of Sheldon Cooper, which haunted and delighted her at the same time. Meanwhile, Elliot shares her and Sheldon's features—eye shape and color from her, but his smile is very similar to Sheldon's. All that boils down to the fact that she never had a full-on mini Amy, until the day Adeline was born.

"She does," Sheldon agreed, gazing up to his wife to take in her features.

 **Sheldon struggled with carrying their child. But he almost forgot that he had** fathered and raised two boys and tended after them from the beginning. Amy always said that he would be the best father. He believed her, and he always made sure he believed in himself, too.

After quite some time, Sheldon had felt the uneasiness brought by sitting still. Sheldon made a small movement to adjust his hold that roused Adeline from her rest. "I'm not hurting her, am I?" he asked, still apprehensive.

"No. She would move and wince a lot if she's not comfortable. Right now, she's pacified and cozied herself on your chest," Amy explained, proud of both of them after making their first joint kangaroo care with their daughter was a success. "Someone's gonna be a daddy's girl," insinuated Amy smirking as she crossed her arms.

Sheldon widened his grin, looked down at their daughter, and then back at Amy. "Don't be jealous, Amy. You're still my lady."

_**January 7, 2024 3:00 p.m.** _

"Can you see your sister, El?" Sheldon asked giddily as he carried Elliot on his left arm.

Elliot nodded his head sheepishly. Sheldon looked at his right, where he carried Isaac. "How about you, Isaac?"

"Addie's tiny," Isaac replied, leaning into the glass door of her room. "Can we go in?" he asked, looking at his father and mother for confirmation.

"Yes, you can, but I'm not sure if Elliot's allowed," Amy answered, obviously disappointed that Elliot is not allowed a visit.

"Why?" Elliot's soft voice echoed in the empty hallway. Amy and Sheldon felt the sadness in what he said. Between Isaac and Elliot, Elliot's the most excited to meet his sister. He would rub Amy's stomach and speak gibberish to it, to the point where he would talk Amy's ear off, and Sheldon would swoop to the rescue.

"Because children visiting need to be 2 years old to visit," Sheldon explained.

"Maybe we can ask again. Elliot's turning 2 in a month," Amy suggested.

They walked back to the nurses' station and asked, once more, if Elliot can go inside. The nurses melted at the way Elliot pleaded, with his little voice and peculiar vocabulary. They agreed in the condition that they needed to wash their hands properly, stand at a respectable distance away from the incubator, and keep their voices down.

The four entered the room. Having instilled the value of patience, the two children just watched from a distance, leaning on their mother and father, listening to the explanation despite not understanding any of it. Amy realized that they raised such gentle, understanding souls when she saw the boys reach their hands inside the incubator, still respecting the distance established, and took turns holding their sister's hand.

Everybody couldn't wait any second to bring home Adeline and welcome her into their family dynamic.

_**February 1, 2024** _

"Supersymmetry proposes that a subatomic particle in the standard model has its own distinct supersymmetric pair from another group of subatomic particles. Boson is to fermion as fermion is to boson. Conversely, super-asymmetry draws from the incorporation of imperfection into the already established supersymmetry, essentially recognizing the real-world pertinence of asymmetry," Sheldon discussed the one thing that changed his and Amy's professional careers. It doesn't matter if they discovered it 6 years ago, or if they won the Nobel for it a little over 3 years ago, talking about super-asymmetry still brought fond memories for both him and Amy.

Sitting on their shared desk in their bedroom, he listened as the moderator from the other side of the monitor referred to the audience for more questions.

"How did you come up with the name of your scientific theory, Dr. Cooper?" one student asked.

Sheldon smiled politely and revealed, "Actually, it was my wife and collaborator, Dr. Fowler, who happened to introduce that terminology, while I rambled about this theory that I can't seem to describe. Seeing that super-asymmetry is the polar opposite of supersymmetry, it only seemed logical to associate it with a theory that we all know."

Another student asked, "Do you have any future studies that might lead to another breakthrough, and perhaps, more recognition?"

"It is a possibility. Scientists have their own small breakthroughs every day. But some of those breakthroughs became noteworthy and very valuable to the community," he answered, peeking behind him as Adeline let out a small cry.

"I would not be surprised if another opportunity arises. Dr. Fowler and I have been doing active research since we can remember, and this is the first one for us to reach such widespread recognition beyond our field. But we just treat every day normally and strive to do something for the research community." He smiled once again, only getting better as he became older.

The lecture continued for 10 more minutes, as Sheldon worried that he may be overextending their lecture.

"Thank you so much for your time, Dr. Cooper," the moderator finally ended the lecture.

"Likewise. Thank you," Sheldon replied, turning off the call and closing his laptop as he sighed.

Sheldon stood up from his seat and loosened his tie. He sauntered around the room bare feet when his phone vibrated.

Exhausted, He answered the call, "Yes, hi. Good afternoon, President Siebert."

Sheldon gazed at his wife who's curled into their bed after feeding Addie. "Yes, already finished with University of Oklahoma."

He sat behind her, watching her steady breathing. "I believe there's still one institution left. It's for tomorrow late morning."

Sheldon smiled at his boss' kind regards. "Thank you. And Amy says her thanks," he responded. "We appreciate your concern, President Siebert."

He nodded. "You too. Goodbye."

Sheldon ended the call and placed his phone on the nightstand. He removed his coat, unbuttoned his shirt, and unzipped his pants, until he was left with his white shirt and boxer briefs. It's hard to be this kind of professional, always wearing ties and ironing coats, however, after 3 years of being a professor, he finally accepted that part of his life.

Scooting on the bed, he laid on top of the sheets and rested his eyes.

Parental leave had been good to them, mainly because they were just getting started. Addie was discharged after 3 and a half weeks in the hospital, which was relieving because the doctors' advice was for her to stay until her supposed due date.

Mistaking Addie's due date in February, he agreed to travel to universities to give lectures in January and half of February, taking a leave after that. But now that their plans had been altered for their premature child, doing online lectures was the way to go.

Sheldon turned around to see his wife stealing glances at him. He smiled exhaustedly, closing his eyes.

"Can I be in the lecture for tomorrow?" Amy murmured.

Ever since the lectures, Amy would sit out on them, preferring to rest or do something that is not about work. Hearing her say that, after all the difficulties they have to navigate through the first month of the year, especially what Amy had to go through both emotionally and physically, did nothing but delighted him. His wife was there, and she will bring back the best in her.

He wrapped her in his arms and kissed the top of her head. "Absolutely."

_**February 29, 2024** _

"Aw! That was close, El!" Sheldon whispered aggressively, as another _beep_ played in their temporary home

"Me again?" Elliot asked in his sweet voice, holding the tweezers in his tiny hand.

It might be too young to have a two-year-old and a four-year-old to play Operation, but Sheldon saw it as an opportunity to train their fine motor skills, and also patience and perseverance, as what Amy said, sans the complexity of how many money you get and the many silly terminologies of the game.

Whenever they managed to do a successful surgery, the body part would be placed in a separate cup, and by the end of the game, the one with the most surgeries completed will be declared the winner.

"Isaac's turn first, then Daddy, and then you," Sheldon explained.

"Okay," Elliot replied rather saddened that he only got one compared to Isaac's three and Sheldon's four.

Elliot handed the tweezer to Isaac. Isaac concentrated and carefully extracted Cavity Sam's butterflies when suddenly the board buzzed and Cavity Sam's nose lit up red. Elliot and Sheldon hissed at the same time, as Isaac wailed softly, "Oh, no."

The curtain that separated the bedroom to the rest of the place drew open. Amy emerged from the dim room to witness the boys huddled in their trailer's dinette, occupied with their game.

"Mommy, come play?" The two-year-old babbled as he saw his mother.

Amy chuckled and tiptoed to where they were. "You know I cut brains for a living."

"Daddy's good, too, Mom," Isaac bragged. Having collected the most parts, he looked at his father as an expert in the field of Operation.

"Let's see what he can do." Amy sat beside Isaac, opposite Sheldon and Elliot. Before she could start playing, she leaned in and notified them, especially her sons. "Just keep it down boys, your sister is sleeping."

They reset the game, Sheldon and Amy battling it in a kid's game. This time, they played it like grown-ups. Amy started first, earning her first successful surgery. Sheldon took his turn and carelessly failed on completing his first task. He was competitive, and by any means, he doesn't plan on losing on an equal.

The couple ricocheted their turns, leaving to five more operation sites.

"Ooohh, you're losing, Dad," Isaac said, pointing at the amount of money on Sheldon and how it doesn't compare on what Amy acquired.

"And we're done," Amy announced as she successfully retrieved the last piece with ease.

"Amy!" Sheldon sulked but smiled at the experience.

"Mommy won!" Elliot cheered, crawling across the table and wrapping his arms around his mother.

Isaac slid out of the dinette and sat beside his father on the other side. "And you were great too, Daddy." He tugged his father's arm, which made Sheldon smile.

"Great, Daddy!" Elliot also praised, even though Sheldon can clearly see which son would go to which parent in an event of a divorce. Knock on wood.

"Thanks!" He smiled, looking at his wristwatch. "Come on, it's getting late. Time for bed."

Everyone changed into their pajamas, brushed their teeth, and gathered on the bed at the rear end of the trailer. Isaac picked a book on the basket that they've brought from Pasadena and handed it to Sheldon.

Sheldon opened the first page and read it with vigor only a child could appreciate.

". . . and into the night of his very own room . . . where he found his supper waiting for him . . . and it was still hot . . . The End." He closed the book and peeked at Elliot who had made a pillow out of his arm.

"Mommy, can we have another one?" Isaac groggily asked Amy. "And can you read it this time?"

Sheldon poked Isaac's waist. "Don't you like the way I read, son?"

The boy giggled. "I love it, but you and Mommy need to take turns."

"Sounds fair," Sheldon replied, carefully moving Elliot to the pillow.

_"Don't let the pigeon drive the bus!"_

Amy and Sheldon gingerly climbed off the bed, leaving their sons sleeping. They walked past the narrow hallway, where Addie and her travel bassinet were located. At one point, Sheldon had the courage to lower his head into her bassinet and stayed his head cradled on their daughter's tummy, taking in the powdery soft scent of a baby. Amy quickly shut down his endeavor so as not to wake up Addie.

Now laying on the dinette-turned-bed, Sheldon and Amy squeezed themselves into the bed. The plan was that Sheldon would share the dinette with Elliot, but Amy wanted to have alone time for a few minutes.

"What are you thinking?" Amy asked as she laid her head on Sheldon's arm.

"How spent my body is." All Sheldon could do was mutter and lay like a vegetable.

"We have a long day ahead tomorrow," she said, her eyes almost closing.

Sheldon scoffed. " _'We have a long day ahead tomorrow'_ will be our mantra for 2 more days."

"Did our Valentine's Day overnight trailer camping at Big Bear prepare you for 6 hours of driving across the desert?" asked Amy.

To prepare for this journey, they drove for two hours towing the trailer, leaving the kids with their in-laws, and camped at Big Bear. Both learned the works of having a trailer. From emptying the black and gray tanks to hooking up the water and electricity, they managed to do it with the supervision of a friend, who lent them the trailer and whose son and daughter were in Isaac and Elliot's swimming class. Sheldon pulled a few strings for the family to visit JPL since the kids were big fans of space exploration. In exchange, the family was kind enough to let them use their trailer.

"Oh, God, no!" Sheldon moaned and then laughed at how seamless their Big Bear trip was. "I can't believe we managed to arrive here with a 16-foot trailer and three kids under 5. It definitely gave us false pretense that everything will fall according to plan."

Amy nodded. "So, are we doing this road trip to Galveston again?"

"We'll have to reevaluate. And this time we'll evaluate it thoroughly," he answered resolutely.

"Remember, you're the one who recommended that we drive," Amy teased.

Sheldon was the most excited about the road trip. He mapped their route, pinpointing every establishment that they will be able to park, eat, or stay for the night. He gave an orientation for the kids about what they will be doing and how they should behave. One prominent thing that the kids got to do was wear a whistle and an I.D. around their necks. Addie didn't need it for she was only strapped into her, but Sheldon still made an I.D. bracelet for her. Talk about preparation.

"I am skeptical about flying Addie. Isaac's first flight was when he was almost a year old. Meanwhile, Elliot was 9 months when we flew him."

Amy pushed herself up. "How about the train? There's a direct route to Houston. You never considered it?"

"I did, but it's the same with flying, we'll be exposing her to strangers who are carrying pathogens. And, I'm being selfless here, because I love traveling on trains, but I don't think the kids will get used to sleeping in a moving vehicle for 2 days straight. I bet they would be uncomfortable."

"So we drove?"

"Yes, we drove," he answered with pride. "And I have no regrets. We can stop whenever we want, enter the trailer and have a meal, and go back to the car and go on our way. It's like we're bringing our house with us."

Amy stood up from the bed. "Wait here," she ordered Sheldon as she went to the cabinet where they kept their bags. "I have something for you."

"Amy, I don't think we're allowed to do that here," Sheldon whispered enough so that she can hear him. Sex on a trailer, why not? Sex on a borrowed trailer with three kids sleeping and in the middle of southern Arizona, why?

"No, it's not that!" Amy retorted. She closed the closet and handed him a leather drawstring pouch. "Here."

"What's this?"

"Your birthday present," Amy answered in a hurry. She can't wait to look at Sheldon's face once he opens it.

Sheldon looked up at her in confusion and sat up. "My birthday was 3 days ago."

"Yes, and I didn't give you anything."

He smiled. "Because I told you not to bother. You, of all people, should know I'm not very fond of gifts."

"That's why I bought two. The other one is for me." She showed him a similar bag. "Think of it as something I bought for you and for myself."

Sheldon sighed. He couldn't possibly stop Amy buying him anything. Without waiting, Sheldon extracted a black velvet box. Inspecting it, he rotated the box in his palm and asked, "A ring?"

Amy nodded as she watched him open the lid. Sheldon's face was inexplicable. He rapidly turned on the main light for the living area, peeking if the bedroom's privacy curtain was drawn closed.

He whispered vigorously, "Woah! What is this?"

"A ring made of meteorite," Amy answered, equally thrilled.

"A METEORITE?!" Sheldon grimaced and watched the bedroom. The possibility of waking someone up inside their compact trailer was frightening. He sighed when no one cried. "A meteorite?"

"Technically, the ring is made of cobalt chrome, and that silverish inlay is the meteorite," Amy explained in a hush, looking at it intensely. She's the one who approved the ring's custom design, she'd seen the ring plenty of times both online and once it had arrived, and, still, she couldn't believe what it was made of.

Now slightly calm, Sheldon needed more information. "What kind of meteorite?"

"Gibeon."

Sheldon gasped at the revelation. He pointed at the unique interweaving pattern naturally present on meteorites. " _Widmänstatten_."

"Indeed," she answered. "I do hope it fits." A few times in December, when Sheldon was sleeping, she would insert the ring sizer on his finger. She would do it again and again until she's certain that her husband's finger never enlarged since 6 years ago when they got married.

"Amy!" Sheldon squealed again, once the ring slipped into his right ring finger.

"What?" Amy chuckled, enjoying her husband's reactions.

"You didn't have to do this!"

"I did because I wanted one of my own." Amy opened her ring box and retrieved her very own.

Sheldon observed it closer "And what's this made?"

Amy slipped the ring on her right ring finger. "Black zirconium with brown dinosaur bone and yellow gold inlay."

Sheldon held her hand in amusement. "How on earth did you do all of this?!"

"I ordered this in December. I'm supposed to give this on Valentine's Day, if ever Addie wouldn't get out on her due date, we'd still have something to talk about, but you know, she came out early." Amy chuckled at the absurdity of life. "If it weren't for the confirmation email, I would've forgotten about this gift."

"Thank you." Sheldon kissed Amy for the longest time that day. "You're the best."

"I know! I took the dino bone if you don't mind."

"Not at all. Although dinosaur bones have their own merit, meteorites came from space. That's cooler!"

"Also, I had it engraved." Amy turned her ring outward, as did Sheldon who spelled out what was written.

" _S – A – I – E – A_ . . ."

"Our initials," said Amy, staring at anticipation.

Instead of letting out an over-the-top speech on how amazed he was, Sheldon went on to explain the observation that he only noticed right then and there. "Haven't you noticed that among all of our initials, I'm the one who has a consonant letter."

Amy turned to her ring and held it peculiarly. "My plan worked . . ." she whispered, forming a grin on her face.

Sheldon jerked his head and stared in disbelief at Amy's words that probably came straight out of the mouth of Gollum. "Excuse me?"

"Kidding," Amy joked. "I know. I noticed it when we were naming Addie. Don't think about it too much."

"I suppose, I won't."

_**April 3, 2024** _

Sheldon heard the bedroom door creak. He slowly wiped the tears from his face. There's no use of hiding it anyway, people will notice.

He heard light footsteps come his way. Tiny fingers pulled his hands away from his face. Isaac asked, "What's wrong?"

Tear-stained face, he gazed at his son with nothing to hide. "I'm just . . . hurt and sad."

Little Isaac tiptoed and wrapped his arms around Sheldon's neck. "Daddy, how do I make you happy?" whispered Isaac.

Sheldon carried him and sat him on his lap. "I don't know, son. Do you have any suggestions?"

Isaac sandwiched his face between his palms. "You can be sad, Daddy, but not too sad because I'm going to cry." His eyes were glassy, but he managed to hold in his tears.

Sheldon chuckled at Isaac's adorable attempt to comfort him. "It's okay to cry. If you feel sad about my Meemaw being gone, you have every right to cry."

Isaac nestled his head on his father's neck. "I will not cry if you are crying. I don't want Mommy to see us both cry. Who will take care of Elliot and Addie if she cries, too?" Sheldon can hear that he was on the verge of crying.

"You're right," Sheldon replied, already gathered his composure. "Here, I'm not crying anymore." He pulled Isaac away from him and showed his face. Although his eyes were red and swollen, there were no more tears running down his face. Sheldon managed to smile at his son.

"Good," Isaac replied, teary-eyed. He wiped his father's face before returning to Sheldon's neck, sobbing lightly. "Daddy, this is very sad."

"I know . . ." Sheldon rubbed his son's back and consoled him. The child's abilities to control his emotions and empathize with people are better than when Sheldon was this age. He couldn't help but a tear ran down his face when Isaac started wailing.

"I'm sad for you, Daddy. For Mommy. For Uncle Georgie and Aunt Missy," Isaac blubbered. "But I'm really sad for my Meemaw Mary. Because Meemaw is her mom." He looked at Sheldon and pleaded, "I don't want to lose Mommy."

As Isaac's hold on his neck tightened, Amy walked into the room carrying Addie, dumbfounded at the sight of Sheldon and Isaac hugging each other.

Amy had a hunch as to what was bothering them, but she asked anyway, "What's wrong, Love?" intending for either of them to answer her question. Sheldon pointed at Isaac and rubbed his back more.

"I'm just sad, Mommy," Isaac replied, his voice trembling. The clueless Elliot entered the room and quickly scampered on the bed, curious about what was happening to his father and brother.

Amy looked at Sheldon, sadness in both their eyes. "Me too. But Meemaw is resting and she's with Pop-Pop now, they will be happy together," she explained to Isaac.

Isaac loosened his hold on his father and sat on his mother's lap, carefully not to bump Adi. Sheldon quickly stood up and got Adi from Amy. "I hope we get to be happy again," Isaac whispered.

"Of course, we will, Love." Amy gazed at Sheldon's loving eyes, watching as he equally hugged Adi and Elliot. "Of course, we will."

_**May 11, 2024** _

Sheldon stood at the foot of the bed holding a camera. Amy stood beside him as she tried to watch the chaos unfold.

"Isaac, can you scoot there a little bit," Sheldon ordered. The boy scooted too much, which garnered a disappointing hiss from Sheldon.

Sheldon pointed at their second son and said, "Umm . . . Elliot, I don't think you're allowed to do that." Elliot stopped sucking on her little sister's chubby cheeks.

Sheldon shot a few photos but not one of them was decent enough for a picture frame.

"Adeline Marie, look at me." Sheldon snapped his fingers to get the attention of Addie. "Hey, princess, look at your father."

"El, you can't eat that, son," Sheldon said in his authoritative voice as Elliot started chewing on Addie's thin hair, making it askew.

"Oh, God!" he whimpered, "Oh, good heavens!" Sheldon stormed off the room, careful not to slam anything so as not to frighten their children. He went through the balcony and walked down to the garden.

Amy knew what was happening. She looked at the children, who seemed to not notice their father disappearing. "Dad, can you look out at them for a minute!" Amy called from the bedroom. Her father calmly walked from the living room. "Thanks, Dad, I'll be right back."

Amy walked out of the room toward the patio. She saw Sheldon sitting on one of the outdoor chairs, his shoulders going up and down deeply.

"Hey, Sheldon, are you okay?" she called, sitting beside him.

Sheldon frowned. "No . . . Lord! Is that how three kids behave? I am at my wit's end trying to understand their behavior! And now you want me to reverse my vasectomy?"

"I was just joking about that reverse vasectomy, Sheldon," Amy explained, chuckling softly. "Let's cool our heads, Love." She placed her hands on her shoulders and caressed it gently. Amy knew it wouldn't be much of a difference, but Sheldon really is a man who secretly loves being assuaged by her. He may not say it aloud, but the way his muscles relaxed confirmed Amy's assumption.

"I am trying to," he said softly, running his hands through his hair. "I just need a few minutes to calm down, and I will be better."

Amy waited in silence as Sheldon looked up to the tree. "Love," she said apprehensively, "we do need to extend our patience."

"I definitely agree with you. I'm just tense, Amy. I'm sorry about that," he admitted to Amy and to himself. "Addie's not even a year old and yet you can see her feistiness. She's taking the liking from you," Sheldon giggled, reminiscing at their daughter's stubbornness to give them a smile.

Amy jerked her head in shock. "From me? You're the feisty, sassy one."

"Alright, alright" Sheldon smiled, conceding. "But I just want one decent photo. Can't we get that?" He begged. One professional photo so that he could frame one for the house and the other to his office. Also, being Mother's Day and their sixth wedding anniversary, he wanted to give that gift to Amy.

"We can, but there's a possibility that we won't be at their stage of life. Maybe when Addie's as old Elliot, we can get more decent photos," Amy appeased, rubbing his back.

"Okay. We'll try." Sheldon sighed and stood up.

Amy followed him and stated with renewed beliefs, "Don't worry about that. They're still adorable even when not looking at the camera."

_**July 11, 2024** _

"Question." Sheldon raised a finger and stopped arranging their lunchboxes. "Do you remember when we had sex in this very office?"

A mixture of disgust, disbelief, and amusement, Amy blinked and jerked her head. "We did what?"

Sheldon looked at her in anticipation, pushing his eyebrows up and widening his eyes. "Sex . . . in my office . . . right on this very desk . . . when the university had that soirée."

"I don't think so," Amy nonchalantly said after recovering from the initial shocker.

"Oh, okay." Sheldon blushed at the presupposition. He didn't doubt his memory, but Amy being so serious about not remembering it, made him question everything. "Well, it's been bothering me that there is a possibility that Elliot was conceived here."

"That's not possible," Amy muttered with a mouth full of brownies. The divots on her forehead were visible, which made Sheldon question that very incident.

"Do you remember?"

"No." Still, Amy wouldn't say anything to prove that they, indeed, had sex in his office. Was she suppressing the memory because of the unconventional location? Or was she genuine about not having a clue about what Sheldon was saying. He does have the tendency to spew out weird, albeit awkward, memories, whether they were his imagination or real-life.

"You had a few drinks . . ." Sheldon painfully waited. Still, anticipation was written all over Amy's face ". . . and it was a quickie," he whispered rather gossipy.

Amy leaned in and asked in discrete. "Why did you bring that up?"

Sheldon sighed in relief. He wasn't imagining things. Something really did happen. "Because we never had quickies," he admitted. "Don't get me wrong. I love our slow, and sometimes intense, love-making. But we never had those risque moments."

"We had one in the shower," Amy pointed out, too engrossed in uncovering every intimate interaction in their relationship.

Sheldon moved his lips, incredulous. "It was in the tub, and we were there for hours on end. I wouldn't say it was a quickie."

Challenging Sheldon, Amy cocked her head with a grin on her face. "Would you be opposed to a quickie right now?"

Sheldon jerked his head and grinned. "What are you thinking? The office quickie happened while you were tipsy, and while I was inebriated from how you look that night."

"Okay," Amy replied calmly. "Your loss." She looked at Sheldon as though she got the upper hand. Grabbing her lunchbox, Amy said, "Just kidding. I'll see you later. Bye."

_**July 13, 2024** _

"May I?" Amy opened the glass door of their shower area. Sheldon stood stock, his hands on his head as he washed his hair.

"We're late. We need to hurry up, Sheldon," Amy prattled turning the shower knob and going under the hot stream of water.

Sheldon just flashed a very confused look. His mouth was ajar as droplets of water hit his face.

"We need to hurry up," Amy said nonchalantly. She wasn't even doing anything other than stand below the showerhead and let it wet her body.

Sheldon looked at her incredulously. Amy doesn't seem in a hurry, why is she pressuring me? "Where the heck are we going?"

Amy gazed at him across her shoulder. "I'll take you someplace nice," she murmured finishing her

Sheldon closed his eyes and pressed his fingers on his head. "Oh God, is this about the quickie talk?"

Before he could even open his eyes, he felt Amy's hand on his abdomen. Sheldon stiffened at her ministrations.

"Hmm. Penetration or no penetration?" Still, her voice was as innocent as she liked it to be.

Meanwhile, Sheldon was stunned at the sudden decisions he had to make. He moved his hand softly on her waist. "I . . . uhh . . . Amy!"

Amy moved her hand lower which made Sheldon flinch. They both let out a chuckle at the absurdity of their morning. Sheldon looked at his amusing wife, the ever seductress that managed to capture his being.

"Blowjob, handjob, no job?" The very phrase that tingled his extremities and brought excitement through his veins. _It's happening!_

He grinned at the game they were playing. Matching her smugness, Sheldon cocked his head and gulped. "Surprise me, Dr. Fowler."

His voice made her shiver in arousal. Amy slid her hand down to his semi-erect organ. Sheldon let out a groan as he pushed his palm on the tiled wall, trying his best to keep his balance.

This may very well be the most exciting thing that happened to their marriage for a couple of months. After their daughter's, it took them 5 and a half months to engage intimately. But that only happened once, after Amy confided to him that she needed more time to find her bearings. Sheldon understood it all. The time might have been the longest he waited, but seeing Amy coming back to him slowly, made his heart flutter. They never lost it. It may have eluded them for quite some time, but it never left. It was all there. Amy was all there. And Sheldon waited.

His breath hitched and before he could finish, she stopped with her ministrations. Amy propped her left leg on the shower bench. She felt a warm body getting closer to her. Sheldon lowered his pelvis and entered her from behind.

Sheldon felt the intensity of his interrupted orgasm, throbbing in his abdomen. He wrapped his arms around Amy's waist, letting her lean back on him. All thoughts eluded him as the shower area was filled with moans and words of love, climaxing with a yell enough to rouse the whole neighborhood.

The pleasure dwindled down. Sheldon sat on the bench, as he breathed deeply. Amy cupped his cheeks and kissed him deeply, something they both missed due to their position. She pulled away, gazing at his lethargic, and asked, "Are you alright?"

"I will be," Sheldon responded, as he drew Amy closer to him. He laid his head on her chest, listening to her breathe. There's no one who could render him this content.

Amy caressed his hair. "Was that up to our quickie standards?"

"More than I ever imagined," Sheldon chuckled softly. Recovering his sane, he flashed Amy a worried look. "Did you . . ."

"No, I didn't," she quickly responded with a smile, "But you owe me one."

"After lunch. Meet me in the bedroom. I'll make sure the kids are napping."

"I look forward to seeing you there," Amy replied, going under the stream of water, and this time, she plans on taking a shower.

Sheldon rose and wrapped his arms on her waist, breathing in on her neck. "You look stunning as usual."

_**September 7, 2024** _

"Have I ever told you how much I love you?" Sheldon cooed, pecking Addie on her head. The little girl squirmed in her high chair, beating the table with her small, chubby arms.

"How about Elliot, Dad?" Isaac asked, pointing at his brother with his spoon.

"I love him, too," Sheldon replied, looking at Elliot.

"And me?" Isaac followed up.

"And you too. I love you."

"And Mom?"

Sheldon nodded his head. "Yes, and your Mom, too. Way before you were born."

Elliot scrunched his forehead and asked out of the blue, "Daddy, when was I born?"

"February 2, 2022," Sheldon answered, feeding Addie her breakfast.

"And Icy?" Elliot asked again, employing his weird nickname for his big brother. Isaac seemed very nonchalant about it all.

"December 11, 2019."

"And Didi?" Again, he made his very own nickname to every single one in the family.

"December 31, 2023."

Elliot shrugged and responded. "Oh, ok."

Joining in the conversation, Isaac provided his insight. "Me and mommy and Addie were born in December."

"That's right. And you and me, Elliot, were born in February," Sheldon said, backing up Isaac's claim.

It became quiet for a while, for Elliot had a mystery he had to solve. "It's uneven, Dad."

"Yes, because we're 5 in the family. It will be uneven since our numbers are odd. Discrete, instead of continuous." Sheldon's last sentence was something he said for himself.

Isaac turned to Elliot and explained, "That means no halfsies."

"Who taught you that?" Sheldon turned his head quickly at Isaac's ingenious explanation. It was agreed upon with Amy that they will not force their children into learning deep scientific and mathematical concepts at an early age. Teaching them basic arithmetic was acceptable, especially since Isaac's been showing interest in numbers, but they never force anything complex to his young mind.

"I always wonder why Mommy sometimes gives me only half of the sandwich, and sometimes she gives me the whole sandwich," Isaac responded, talking like an adult

"Well, it depends on what time you're eating it. We wouldn't want you to spoil your next meal," Sheldon explained.

"But then once El and I were playing with a ball and he wanted it and I wanted too, I can't split it like Mommy used to do with my sandwich." Isaac bit on his toast. "Why can't we split some things and we can split some?"

"What's with the sandwich, Love?" Amy emerged from the room after hearing the conversation

"He's talking about discrete and continuous variables, Amy. Who taught him that?"

"I don't know."

"Daddy said we're an odd number in the family. And then Elliot said it was uneven. And Daddy whispered, 'discrete, instead of continuous.' And then that's what I learned from him."

Amy and Sheldon watched in awe at how quickly the four-year-old grasped the concept Sheldon was muttering about. Isaac had an idea about what it was, but he never knew what it's called until Sheldon muttered that phrase.

Amy turned to the middle child, hoping to pick his brain. "How about you, El? Care to share something?"

Elliot swallowed the food that he was chewing and pointed at Adeline. "Didi, where did she come from?"

"From my uterus," Amy replied, laying a hand on her abdomen—the life force that harbored the three of them.

"Hmm . . . and you're Mommy and he's Daddy. So Daddy helped you put Didi inside?" They've already established some concepts for their children. That they were Mommy and Daddy's children, which meant that they made them, which meant there wouldn't be a baby if the other is not around.

"In a way, yes." Amy sat on the dining chair.

Elliot turned to Sheldon and asked, "But why . . . why put her in if she's already big?"

"Well, remember when we saw Addie in the hospital. She was small back then. But when I gave Addie to Mommy, she was even smaller than the day you first saw her," Sheldon discussed, trying to filter the words that would make his children understand, without getting too explicit.

"Remember when we talked about how Mommy has a little egg inside of her, and Daddy has sperm inside of him. Those two are needed for a baby form," Amy explained, not deflecting the science behind how babies are made, but of course, leaving out the mechanics that made it happen. _Too young for that_ , Amy thought, looking at Sheldon in a sort of a warning not to explain further than that.

"Hmm . . . okay." Elliot shrugged, seemingly content at the explanation. He lifted his plate and asked adorably, "Can I have another slice?"

Isaac leaned into his brother, patted his shoulder, and sighed, "I know, it's confusing El."

_**December 15, 2024** _

Amy entered the main door into their house. Without skipping a beat the kids' voices resonated across the living room. "You're here!" Isaac greeted as he came out of the master bedroom. Elliot followed suit, spreading his arms wide and skipping.

She closed the door and locked it. Dropping down to her knee, she asked, "Why, Love? What's the matter?"

The two hopped into their positions, standing side by side. "Daddy told us that we need to give our gifts today because you're working on your birthday," Isaac revealed, holding his stance, as what his father instructed both of them to do.

"And we have it there!" Elliot then pointed to the backyard, hopping in place, which made the ever-compliant Isaac sigh.

Amy put the things she bought at the couch and followed the boys into the master bedroom. "You bought gifts for me?" she asked.

"Who wouldn't be?" Elliot answered like a grown-up, making Amy chuckle at his aplomb.

Once they enter the room, she can see what was happening in the backyard. The glass french doors were opened. Isaac and Elliot rushed outside to the balcony and down to the stairs that led to what appeared to be a party.

Amy walked to the balcony and watched as her husband stood on the deck, carrying their daughter. She went down the stairs and followed the cobblestone path leading to her family.

"Hi," Sheldon greeted. He looked at their daughter, grabbed her hand. "Happy birthday, Mommy," Sheldon said in a squeaky voice, as though being Addie's voice.

Amy clapped her hands and chuckled at Sheldon's attempt to procure a baby's voice. She approached them and she kissed Addie's cheek and Sheldon's lips.

"Thank you," she said, rather amused. "Are we having a party?"

Sheldon suddenly was downcasted. "I thought you don't want a party?"

She chuckled. "I don't." Having two family members whom she shared a birth month with, Amy thought Isaac and Addie deserved the birthday parties, considering that their eldest just turned 5 and their youngest 1.

"We're just here to have dinner," Sheldon said, pointing at the arranged dinnerware.

Amy stared down at Isaac, who was wearing a powder blue polo shirt with a coat on, and Elliot, who was wearing a red button-down shirt and a bowtie. Both were wearing shorts and slip-on. She looked up at Sheldon and he was dressed in a sweater and a white collared shirt, all preppy, with the exception of his bedroom slippers. And Addie, now almost a year old, dressed in her lilac dress and a jacket, which she seemed to enjoy much. "How come you're all dressed up?"

Sheldon looked at their dinner garb and said to Amy, "There's a dress on the bed if you'd like to change."

Amy returned to the garden, walking by a serving trolley on their balcony, and watched as all of her children were sitting in their own chairs, and Sheldon standing at the bottom of the balcony stairs and waiting for her.

Their speakers spewed out jazz music, which Amy knew Sheldon wouldn't have picked by himself. They walked down the lit cobblestone path hand in hand as their children watched in awe.

The ever so traditionalist, Sheldon went to the laptop on top of the speaker and played a Happy Birthday accompaniment song, as their children sang with all their hearts. Amy blew her candles and Sheldon captured some photos.

They all sat down in their respective chairs, Amy being sandwiched by Isaac and Elliot, while Sheldon sat across from them with Addie as the little girl quietly watched from her high chair.

"How'd you make all of these?" Amy wondered. With children in the house, Sheldon wouldn't probably be able to cook the amount of food on their table.

Sheldon looked at his boys, puffed his chest, and grinned. "I had some help." Amy looked at Sheldon in disbelief. "The boys helped."

"Uncle Raj and his lady friend were here," Isaac revealed, which made Sheldon yelp in jest. Everybody laughed at his phony reaction.

"Raj and Beth made all these?"

Sheldon shook his head. "No, Beth gave me a few easy-to-do recipes of your favorites, and Raj came to criticize my cooking," he revealed, "and take care of the kids."

"Where are they?" Amy looked around.

"They went home."

Her face contorted in guilt. "Oh no, did you give them anything? Some food, at least?"

"Raj said what they did was their gift to you, same as when you had a spa day with Penny, Beth, and Bernadette a few hours ago.

"Which reminds me, I need to call Beth later. I really thought there was an emergency in her restaurant," Amy laughed at how she easily believed in Raj's chef extraordinaire of girlfriend's alibi.

"You took the bait, didn't you?" Sheldon asked with a good-natured laugh.

They proceeded with their birthday dinner party. Amy still couldn't believe that Sheldon managed to pull off this meal. A serving of salmon and potato salad, honey orange chicken, sweet potato mac 'n cheese, and baked peaches.

Isaac wiped his mouth with a napkin and jumped into Amy's lap. "Mom, did you enjoy our dinner?" he asked, holding her cheeks.

Amy looked down and smiled. "Of course. Thank you so much for the food, Love. Did you enjoy yours?"

"Yes, I tried the cake that Aunt Beth and I made. It's scrumptious." Isaac kissed his mother's cheek and jumped from her lap.

Amy turned to her second son. "How about you, El? What did you enjoy?"

Elliot puckered his lips with a sound, a silly expression upon his face. "Everything. It was scramchoos."

Amy beamed at Elliot's silliness. She looked across and saw Sheldon grinning at Elliot's retort.

Then, she looked beside her husband, their daughter engrossed in her peaches. "How about you, Addie? How's the food?"

Addie looked up and formed her mouth in an O, before stuffing her mouth with more peaches.

Amy couldn't contain her laughter. "That seems like the face of a full baby," she said, drawing the attention of everybody. They looked at the youngest Cooper and cooed at her quips.

Isaac jumped down from Sheldon's lap and stood beside his sister. "Love you, Addie. Your birthday's gonna be next."

The time it took to dress up the kids and put food down their gullet was worth it, considering how they easily fell asleep on their beds. There wasn't even a need for a bedtime story or tucking them in. As soon as Sheldon saw how droopy Isaac and Elliot's eyes were, he carried them into their bedroom, the boys falling asleep on his shoulders, and changed them into their pajamas. On the other hand, Amy tended on Addie, breastfeeding her and changing her diaper, before she laid her down on her crib. All that happened before it was 9 p.m.

She prepared to freshen up for the night when Sheldon emerged from the outside. All the plates had been cleaned, the outside table wiped down, his face was weary but a big smile was plastered on it.

"Hi," she whispered, returning his smile.

"Shower?" Sheldon asked, grabbing his bathrobe behind the door.

Amy raised her eyebrows. "Tub."

His smile widened as they escorted each other inside the bathroom. It took 20 minutes to take a bath, mostly dozing off against each other after the day they had. They changed into their pajamas ready to retire for the night, but Sheldon had other plans.

He opened the closet and retrieved two sweaters. He gestured his head for Amy to follow. They went out to the balcony, down to the steps, and back to where they ate dinner. Sheldon had left his laptop open and suddenly hit the spacebar. Slow music emanated across their backyard. Amy suppressed a snort when she heard Lionel Richie and Diana Ross' _Endless Love_. Sheldon rolled his eyes and reasoned out that Missy sent a playlist for her birthday, and he didn't know that it was filled with love songs from the '80s and '90s.

"How was your 41st birthday celebration?" Sheldon asked, snaking his arms on Amy's lower back.

"The best! I love being in my 40s," she exclaimed. They didn't celebrate anything on her 40th birthday, because of how inconvenient it was to have a celebration while on her last trimester of pregnancy, so Sheldon decided that it would be best to celebrate Amy's 41st, instead.

"Is this even better than what we had 6 years ago?"

"6 years ago . . ." Amy returned to what happened 6 years ago. She and Sheldon went to have dinner outside, drove by an ice cream shop and bought two pints of ice cream, and made love. Oh, and that was the day Sheldon told her he wanted to have children. "Woah, we didn't even have kids 6 years ago."

"Remember when I told you to stop taking your pills?"

"Yes!"

"That man was naive, Amy!" Sheldon laughed. Presently, he matured with the kids, but Sheldon 6 years ago didn't even know the shenanigans their kids have brought. "But that man is in a great time of his life, now."

"I'm sure he is," Amy smoother his shoulders, tightening her lip and holding in her tears at Sheldon's genuine admission.

"How about you? Where is she now?"

"Having the time of her life dancing with her husband." Raising her eyebrows suggestively, Amy increased her pace, suggesting Sheldon to dance.

"She better is. That man has some killer moves," he proudly muttered.

"What?" Amy blurted out, laughing. Sheldon joined in, too, knowing fully well that he wouldn't dance jovially unless he's drunk.

"Come here." Amy pulled him by the collar, kissing him. "Thank you for this day, Sheldon."

Sheldon smiled. "Another 6 years to us."

"Make it 50 years."


End file.
